


Silence

by Yincira



Series: Beast Nebula [2]
Category: Alien Series, Predator Series
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alien Biology, Alien Character(s), Alien Technology, Aliens, Biotechnology, Chimeras, Drama, Experimentation, Family, Friendship, Gen, Genetic Engineering, Hive Mind, Laboratories, Mental Coercion, Metamorphosis, Mind Manipulation, Mind Meld, Monsters, Science Fiction, Xenomorph (Alien) - Freeform, Yautja
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-02
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2017-12-22 05:36:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 104,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/909513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yincira/pseuds/Yincira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mind coalescence requires borders, lest it kills. The story of a cranky yautja exile and the chimera kid he accidentally adopted, stumbling into the power play of the galaxy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hunted Secrets

They said it was an unbalance in the natural scale. They said it was always the risk with a planet that was originally not inhabitable, as with any terraforming project. They off course did not say it just was cheaper to work on New Eden than repair any flawed ecosystem ... or rather, flawed atmosphere.

The same rain had descended for months on end, soaking the lands beyond what it could handle and the remedy had come too late. The trees had started rotting while they were still alive, the last remaining animals scavenged anxiously for something edible. Algae thrived on what little light passed reached down, cutting off life chances for any other plants and polluting the water even further.

What appeared to be a cave entrance let go of drops at regular intervals. This created little streams that ran deeper into the cave, but they would be caught in the damp earth before they would ever reach the subterranean rivers.

Here an old little frog sat, deaf by poison and echoes of a cave it was never meant to live in. It didn't heard the snake approaching.

When it finally caught movement in the corner of its eye, it was almost too late. A vain attempt to hop away was intercepted, it was scooped up in mid-air.

Yet it landed a few meters away in a puddle, only a little confused; not the snake but the metal surface belonging to a boot had caught it, which in turn belonged to a hunter who would never bother with something as small as a frog.

At least, normally they wouldn't.

The yautja looked down as the frog jumped away, then saw the snake curl up and hiss at him. After watching it a moment, he stepped on the snake's head and crushed it. Clattering of mandibles replaced the hiss, but not for long — another, older hunter reprimanded him for his waste of time.

The young one grudgingly followed him into the cave. Ahead of them was a long trek through a labyrinthine set of bunkers and halls, the remnants of a sunken human settlement. On their way, the elder hunter took his time to find a certain something by use of various scans. The younger didn't care much, there was little in this environment to keep his interest.

So, when they reached a river and the elder muttered something more about his scans, he was quite off guard when he was pushed into the river without apparent warning.

"Karga'te, go get that." With that, the elder pointed at something presumably lying on the bottom of the shallow river; he couldn't see what.

Irritated, but knowing he didn't have the strength to demand Tehen'rei do it himself, the young yautja bent down at the spot he had been told to.

He pulled out what seemed to be a cluster of white fungus, wires and rags; at closer inspection it were the remnants one of those fake lifeforms created by humans. Android, synth or Auton, they had varying names for them.

On shore he dropped it as quick as possible. The elder inspected it, concluded it was their target and that what they sought wasn't here anymore, but had been.

Irritably Karga'te growled, he had a feeling what was about to come next. And indeed, Tehen'rei ordered him to follow the river downstream, just in case.

"I'll go find the other one." the elder said. "Report to me if you find anything."

He hated any body of water larger than what he needed to survive. Tehen'rei knew that, probably thought this was amusing. But he had no choice, even in a group of outcasts there still were social structures and Karga'te happened to be the weaker here. So, he set his scanner on permanently active and followed the river by side, hoping he could stay out of it for a while.

Tehen'rei meanwhile continued towards a bunker farther away, which he opened with a single plasma blast, leaving quite a bit of rubble in its wake.

The place was hidden safely from any scan methods beyond the stratosphere, it was a cold room devoid of radio signals or even generators. Rotting clothes lay scattered around, a boot here, metal furniture covered with rust. Somewhere here a cryo-container should be as well, which he desperately hoped had not washed down that river.

He soon noticed a thin wind draft, the air he had brought along upon entrance was being sucked into another chamber.

The chamber it led to was empty though. The container couldn't be here, since nothing was here to hide it in. Disappointment and anger threatened to overtake him, but he was old, he could restraint those emotions. He walked a little further in, wondering what the clue was ...

Off course, it was _too obviously_ impossible to hide it here.

He adjusted his scanners a little, quickly finding the secret : the ceiling was hollow. This he had to be more careful about than a plasma cast. So he dragged some furniture from the other room and stepped on it, for even with his height he couldn't reach up otherwise.

Once relatively stable, he set a hand against the ceiling and extended his wrist blades on the other, ramming them in with full force. The hard plastic was difficult to tear apart and required some patience, in fact, it worked much like glass. Cracks appeared all over it but nothing happened until all came crashing down in a single implosion.

He fell down, dirt and plastic piling up around him. His guarded self almost lost composition, but once he had struggled free he found what he was looking for : the container lay half buried aside of his legs. Quickly gathering it up, he scanned it. Inside the cold, vaguely five oval shapes were visible. A sense of triumph, if ever so small, overcame him. He stood up and wanted to contact Karga'te, but stopped in his track.

Those were no eggs, only egg holders.

Hello there, Disappointment. The eggs were gone, so that android indeed had been what had tried to carry it away, it had come after the humans had left. So, what had destroyed it?

Meanwhile, Karga'te had encountered a spot where the river submerged and had stepped in to follow, hence he never heard the roar nor the shriek.

The further he went, the stronger the currents became. A few times he'd been slammed against a wall and torn open his skin, his breath was running out and it was painfully cold. But stubborn choices in the past had gotten him into this life, he had no intention to go out before he could come back on that past. While like all his new 'friends' he had no code to live or die for, he had other reasons.

At the next inner cave, he grabbed a rock, kicked off against the sharp floor and hauled himself out of the tearing river. Collapsing onto his knees he remained on the shore for a minute, catching his breath and letting what little warmth there was return to his sore muscles. Then he looked around.

He was either in a cave or a decayed hall, he couldn't tell, but there was an exit, which he gladly took over returning to the stinking water. Tehen'rei was intimidating, but not as intimidating as the prospect of death.

This exit in question was a hole from which a draft came, perhaps a disposal shaft from long ago. The strange rubble lying in this cave certainly suggested so. He could easily jump that high, but the size of the shaft was another thing, he had to crawl on his stomach to go through.

It took long before he reached the open again and there hardly was fresh air to welcome him, but he was relieved anyway. Really, the lack of fresh air was less of a dampener than the mud he promptly sunk in past his knees.

Great, more drappy stuff.

Specifically, more android drap.

Scattered around him were the remnants of several androids, every single one of them torn apart. Disinterested, he was about to leave when he noticed a container. With some effort he pulled it out of the mud. It wasn't the same as described in the files he had been shown, but his scanner indicated there were small eggs inside.

Satisfied, he clattered his mandibles together. Tehen'rei would be so ticked if _he_ managed report he had found it, because then the elder wouldn't be able to take credit.

Now, he didn't care to think about what circumstances had brought it here, but part of the answer announced itself at that moment. Something came crawling up the shaft.

Instinctively he wrestled around to face the entrance, the familiar sound approached. Within seconds the facehugger launched towards his face, but he caught it midair. Rapidly he pulled off the legs and tossed it far away; no need to waste his wrist blades on the acid.

Alright. Hardmeat where it wasn't supposed to be. Nothing new.

He went on to dry ground and continued back, container clutched under one arm and using the other to keep balance on the treacherous ground. He had a few kilometers ahead like this, but with that river behind him he was hardly concerned for what lay ahead ... not that it stopped him from swearing over every little slip. Eventually he found the dry road they had taken on their way to the submerged settlement and from there on made better progress.

It wasn't quite looking up though, someone else had arrived at the ship before him.

The trident corona stuck out above the fog, he could see it from far away. Curious at the ship, it moved around it, apparently inspecting it. Perhaps it waited for more to arrive, so that they could enter it by blood. Perhaps it waited for its owners to return, so it could bring home a new host. Whatever a hardmeat did, it could not be something beneficial to him.

What it _didn't_ do though was helpful. As if this point, Karga'te hadn't been spotted. Hardmeat had many ways of sight that he didn't quite understand, but someone had told him once that how adept they were in a particular type could vary. If these hardmeat went on scent in the first place, they had a horrible hunting terrain in this windless land of rot. If it was echo location, ... well, he knew next to nothing about that. Then there had been something about photo-sensitive cells on their corona, meaning he'd be toast if the thing decided to climb the ship.

He sat down against a rock and did the only thing he could do : wait for Tehen'rei. As a lone, not so experienced hunter, it would be madness to face a praetorian simply by walking up to it. Now, he did like the idea of leaving Tehen'rei behind, the jerk deserved it according to him, but in facing a praetorian he needed an advantage which only the elder yautja could give him. Plasma casters would be useful, to be specific.

So when a powerful air current tore the mist off the lands like a veil, he was quite peeved. In full force the marshes were lifted to the sky as the shockwave of the explosion carried even this far. What wasn't torn up was pushed down, everything moved a little further from where once the town had been. A fierce light filled the lands for a few seconds, then all the mud and algae came down almost as quick, transforming ship, yautja and praetorian into identical piles of goo.

Cursing at Tehen'rei, Karga'te struggled to his feet and noticed the container was no longer present. He rapidly shifted through several sight modes, in vain. He had been thrown through the air a short distance but the light container could be a lot further.

The praetorian meanwhile was too heavy to be lifted ... the yautja was much closer to it now. He turned around to find the creature facing his direction and immediately took a defensive stance. But then it became clear why he wasn't attacked yet : the praetorian had stumbled into a marsh and was sucked stuck.

In retrospect, Tehen'rei committing yautja style suicide was also an acceptable advantage.

Or maybe not. Because there he spotted the container, broken by collision with something, and the dim outline of the eggs scattered around. Blasted. He could pick up the eggs that remained, but he needed that container to lock them, lest he wanted to deal with what was inside. And said container was just a few meters away from the praetorian.

Cautiously he approached, estimating the creature's range. He'd had to be careful of the tail in any case, but so far hissing seem to be the only thing it could do, and just for a moment he stopped to look at the creature : he had never seen a praetorian in real life. Facehuggers were nothing new, a drone he had once seen from a distance, and he'd seen the images in databases and on hieroglyphs, yet seeing it in real life was quite a different thing ... hunters would die for a chance to have its skull on their trophy wall and he understood why. It was raw, undiluted power that the yautja themselves would never truly posses. He chuckled at the thought that he had escaped a life of hunting for an ultimate glory that would always be out of reach.

Before his thoughts went elsewhere, he waded into the water and picked the container off of a small bushed, his eyes remaining on the seemingly helpless praetorian.

It wasn't that helpless though, as he learned three seconds later when the praetorian managed to pushed itself ahead far enough to throw him over. The water washed over his mask, but he could see the fangs coming down.

Now _this_ was a good reason to waste his wristblades. Before the praetorian could bite down, he rammed his fist up and extended the blades at that moment, setting his full weight against the skull. From this lying position it was impossible to create enough strength to go through the thick plating, but the damage he did to the jaws was enough to make the beast recoil in pain. Part of the blades remained in the wind, melting away already, while Karga'te struggled onto his feet and backed onto dry land.

The praetorian tried to follow, shrieking in anger, but the damp underground wouldn't let go.

The yautja caught his breath, a flare of fear taking announcing itself, but the anger accompanying it was greater. That had been stupid, he should've been quicker ... speaking of time ... blasted. Quickly he gathered up the few eggs that were still intact, placed them into the container and then boarded the ship. After securing the container, he started up and took off.

Time was essential, he wasn't sure how long he had been underground and how long he had waited in the fog, but soon the strange weather of this place would prevent the ship from leaving. Get caught in of those freaky storms of magnetic fields up there, and it was all over.

If he had just looked outside, he might have known a few things more for his future, but he never did see that one forgotten egg, lying close to the caught praetorian. It released a pale, miniature facehugger, eager and strong enough for its nearest host.

Neither did he hear that surprised, agonized call that followed.

Not so far off though, a few humans in a tent did hear.

"What was that?" one asked with a shivering voice.

Another joked it off :"Well, the vegetation started mutating and there are plant-frog hybrids of tremendous sizes waiting to eat us."

"Oh how funny. See me laughing? Look at me laughing." said the first.

After a few more minutes of silence and tensed listening, he added : "That wasn't a frog."

"Yeah? Then what? If there were any aliens here, don't you think they would have found us by now? This planet is inhabitable by nature. There's nothing here but veggies and freaky gas explosions. For that part, we are in a childhood nightmare about spinach."

All four of them laughed, trying not to see the empty sleeping bags of their missing friends, and trying not to think about how they couldn't hope for a rescue ship anymore.

Then, they were silent.


	2. White Shadow

**· · · · · · ·**

_Year : 2573_

_Micor sector, Terra Mirror_

**· · · · · · ·**

_"Here is a mirror that will change the monsters reflecting in it."_

This message had appeared when they attempted to hack the database of the half-sunken ship, moments before it shut down.

"Captain, it seems it was encoded in a self-destruct shell, and we lacked the key. We did find out one thing though : this ship didn't crash. It was set in sleep mode, and nobody ever started it up."

"I see. Well done, Collins."

Three years ago, a civilian ship had made an emergency landing on Terra Mirror, falling for a deceptive calmness in the atmosphere.

The Mirror stratosphere was filled with a metallic asteroid belt, but the real problem was the turbulent atmosphere right underneath it. Only at irregular intervals would the winds still enough to allow descending, it required a lot of calculation to find out when this would happen and how to maneuver through it.

Most passengers had died when it had crashed in a lake. A small number of survivors had sent a distress signal, but it had been in vain. Now, three years later the atmosphere finally permitted a mission to retrieve the bodies, if only for a proper burial.

No one counted for survivors, for Terra Mirror itself was dying. There were no more frogs or snakes, and the humans had to wear oxygen tanks due to the thin air filled with patches of carbon monoxide and other harmful gasses.

As they searched for the crash-site, the marines had stumbled across a curiosity along the way : a small transport vessel that seemed to have landed decades ago. Maybe it had brought along Internecivus Raptus, for there was a large hole in the hull and hive matter inside; apparently the drones had used it to sleep.

The presence of the xenomorph certainly made the crew nervous. Tensely, they finished up the investigation and salvaged a few useful parts, while always looking around and startled at small sounds.

"Alright, wrap it up. Bayard, did you get your samples?"

Silence, save for a few plop sounds.

"Where did Bayard go?"

They looked around, for as far as the mists allowed sight, but he was not there. Some called his name, likewise without result.

"Now where did that kid go? Anyone seen him?"

"A few minutes ago he was still here, he said something about an interesting radiation trace. I told him to check it out later, didn't see him since."

Commander Morrison sighed. "Get me a contact."

One of the soldiers quickly established a link to their team scientist.

"Mr. Bayard, get your ass back here at once!"

"In a moment, I found something of major interest!" replied a hazy voice; the equipment wasn't the best.

"That was an order!"

"My apologies, but I am not in service of the USCM, can't take any orders."

Morrison groaned in irritation. "Bayard, we're not getting paid to fetch your body if something goes wrong."

"It'll only take a minute! Go ahead without me, I'll be fine!" With that, the connection was broken.

Morrison glared at the tc, then looked up at the nearest marine.

"Wellson, get Bayard back here."

**· · · · · · ·**

Jonah was one of those people who often would need a reminder of why they had started something. Not that they quite forgot, but sometimes they got so caught up in studying a single tree that they stopped seeing the forest.

He was also one of those people who went into field research expecting a wondrous adventure, unaware that the elephant could trample them. He had the wrong boots, he was tired, but he still was also hopeful and thrilled.

Traces of some type of radiation covered the area, but those weren't nearly as telling as the giant crater he stood before. He could not even see its other end through the mist, despite it not being that thick here. He could only see a little beyond the center, and he knew his geology : this was not caused by a meteorite. For as far as the ground wasn't drenched, he could see specific pressure marks and if he was correct, the crater had a slightly oval shape.

His observations didn't keep him from hearing the sopping sound that slowly came his way. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a humanoid figure approaching through the mist, one of his comrades looking for him no doubt. He was eager to share his discovery, but then he noticed the man didn't call out a greeting.

Seeing as Jonah was dressed in white — nobody had told him labcoats were bad idea — and blond haired, he himself didn't stick out a lot against the milky mist, ... this was a great chance. In a fit of childish glee he hid behind a near rock, slowly moving so that his motion wouldn't betray him. There he knelt down and waited. Perhaps it was Erwin or Shilling, impatient as they were with him he would enjoy giving them a scare.

When the man was nearly aside of the rock, Jonah jumped out with a branch in his arms, yelling :"Freeze or die!"

The man stopped in his track and didn't seem phased much by the surprise.

Jonah stood still too; this was not one of his comrades. His hands trembled and the branch dropped, he took his glasses off and tried to rub them clearer, perhaps he was seeing wrong? It had to be wrong, it couldn't be a good thing if he met an armed stranger on this planet, he probably was wrong and —

"Commander, I have come across a civilian."

_Definitely not good._

"Is he armed?" a dim voice asked through some transmitter.

"He might have hit me with that branch."

"Private?" the voice reprimanded.

"No sir, he does not seem to be armed."

"Alright. Hold a minute, we will investigate this."

After a little observation, Jonah was only more puzzled. The man was entirely covered up and his riffle was slender and efficient-looking, nothing like those of the marines he had come with.

"Are you one of the Space Marines too, another faction or something? Did we trespass somewhere? We didn't mean to! We-" Jonah stuttered.

"Please remain quiet." the soldier calmly ordered.

He held his tongue and waited, it didn't take long for the static voice to return.

"Ah, a charity mission to retrieve a few deceased stranded. They seem to have taken advantage of the same shift in the atmosphere as we have." the voice muttered, then in a clearer tone : "It is unfortunate he has seen you, but we can take no risks. Eliminate him."

"Is that absolutely necessary, sir? Perhaps we can silence him in another way."

"No option. Use the shocker, dump him in a pool, make it look like an accident. Do you understand?"

With a sigh, the soldier said :"Affirmative, sir. Over and out."

Instincts took over, Jonah turned to run ... but the ground sucked him close and then he felt the stun of electricity. There wasn't even any fading to blackness as always happened in the movies.

**· · · · · · ·**

In retrospect, maybe he should have asked Bayard what he had found, Morrison realized. Upon arrival at the crash site, they saw that a significant part of the lake had disappeared, as if the water had flooded elsewhere. The captain wasn't a geographer, but it took no genius to understand that that water had to have gone _somewhere_. It was too cold for it to have vaporized, so ...

On the bright side, this made salvaging the bodies a lot easier. At least, he was pretty sure these things here were the bodies they were looking for. Lying in the water for years had caused the flesh to swell up and become a white, waxy mass. He definitely could use their scientist right now to determine which was wildlife and which was human.

Neither Wellson nor Bayard had been heard of in a while, and he opened his tc again in hopes of a quicker contact over these blasted poor receptors.

This time though, the connection was clear. It was also not a voice he understood.

"State your identity." commanded the link hijacker.

"I am captain Morrison from the U.S.M. Ariston, from the USCM. Please state you-"

"I have nothing to state before you. You are trespassing and will be apprehended soon. Cooperate and all will go well."

"Wait a minute, trespassing? This planet is open ground, we are on an authorized retrieval mission."

But the connection was broken only.

Morrison ordered his men to just salvage anything that looked mammal and then stay on alert, there seemed to be a complication and it was best to stay put till it was resolved.

The wait seemed to last for hours, but it was little over thirty minutes before silhouettes parted from the fog. By that time, all their work was done and the troopers waited anxiously.

Strangers in uniforms of Space Marines appeared, but they lacked any insignia identifying them. Their equipment was well financed and their behavior controlled and orderly, unlike they themselves. Professionals in front of a second rate faction.

"In name of the Interstellar Alliances, I demand to know what System you serve." Morrison spoke firmly, but was unable to hide the shiver in his voice.

"In the name of the same Alliances, we hold no responsibility to explain you anything." someone called back, yet none stepped forward to identify themselves as leader.

"Look, we're all on this planet for whatever reason, but we shouldn't make things difficult on each other. We found traces of xenomorph a while back and —" Morrison tried.

"There are no more xenomorph."

"You killed them already?"

"No. Now, accompany us back to your vessel. Take those bags there with you."

"What's going on?" one of Morrison's men called, an unveiled hint of panic in his voice. "Come on men, we're all marines, what's this about?"

The one nearest Morrison now spoke, rather softly : "If you haven't investigated that space craft, we would have been able to avoid this."

"This? What ... it's about that thing?"

"Just follow us and there will be no problems."

Morrison had always been a man of obliging to the rules, believing they would resolve everything.

Sometimes it's best to look a little further past what makes the rules tick, he realized shortly after.

**· · · · · · ·**

Upon opening his eyes again, the first thought to cross Jonah's mind was a warning, for it had become darker and soon the cold would become too much ... heck, it was cold already. Instinctively he struggled with his stiff limbs to get up from the soaked ground.

_I survived?_

He tried looking around, who had saved him? Had any of his companions come?

Not enough view like this ...

He set his elbows against the ground and tried to get up, only to find himself falling. The slimy surface of the rock he lay on offered no hold and he nearly slipped into the black water. But something solid caught him in the stomach. It pushed him back onto the rock, and then withdrew. Confused, Jonah straightened the glasses on his nose and tried to see. Contact lenses would have been so useful right now, if only he hadn't been squicked by the idea of putting them onto his eyes.

It had been a long, white arm that felt like bone with a layer of skin atop of it and it belonged to a large white blur.

Said blur was inhumanly large, yet had a skull like face somewhere in the middle, he couldn't tell what fit where exactly. Straining his eyes, perhaps it had a long neck that hung low and ... a crest? Also, four legs, half sunken into the marsh but he could see it sat like a dog.

No, that hadn't been an arm, that had been a tail.

Now, Terra Mirror was a weird place, but not unusual. He could see no way anything that ever had lived here would become this thing. Dimly the form reminded of a xenomorph queen, yet they were black. The only black about this creature were its eyes.

A beep drew his attention away. He pulled the counter forward and learned that his oxygen tank was nearly empty.

"Oh crap."

Quickly he tried to get his location on his tc, but the jolt and the water had destroyed it. It cursed again as it zapped his fingers and it dropped into the water.

Now the shape before him moved again, extending a thin hand towards the dropped object and offering it back to Jonah.

A little surprised, he said : "No use."

Even stranger, he seemed to be understood. The creature drew back its hand and brought the tc to its face for a closer look. But the human had no time to wait, he needed a new oxygen tank.

He carefully stepped off the rock and at the same moment the monster stood up on two legs. Jonah fell back, startled, but the creature made no move to attack him. In fact, it walked away. With beating heart, Jonah remained where he was for a minute, then crawled back onto his feet and ... waited. He wasn't sure for what. But he was supposed to wait.

Soon the monster emerged from the mists again, now it carried something dark and dangling. Jonah realized quickly what it was.

The corpse was dropped before him, partially intact. He could see the stun gun in the belt, the weapon he recognized too ... but the head and arms ... there, blood and melting skin dropped off the cracked bones. A wave of nausea set over Jonah, the fact he couldn't see any details didn't really help.

He pulled the mask off of his face and vomited.

Why was it showing him this? Did it like upsetting its dinner before it ate? Was that why it had waited till he had woken up? The burst of adrenaline he had needed finally announced itself.

He tried to flee, he fell and crawled up again and his mind went blank. Dimly aware of the monster behind him standing up, he hurried right into a pool, half swam, half struggled to the other side. His oxygen tank he lost in the process and he was gaping for air before he reached the other shore.

It was there already. He looked up through a haze of his weak eyes and filthy water, not to be killed but to see it hold out something.

The soldier's oxygen tank.

He hesitated, long enough for the monster to reach down and pull him out, setting him on another rock. There it put the tank in his lap. For a few more seconds the human just stared, then he rapidly placed the tank on his back and the mask over his face.

Fresh air streamed into his lungs and a sense of relief into his mind ... along with something else.

A simple form of happiness, like that of a child. Jonah hadn't experienced something like this since he was little, and he guessed it was because he had survived, right?

"Thank you." he muttered. More of that strange happiness.

He raised a hand with the thought of trying to pet the monster, not knowing a better reaction.

She responded in a disturbingly human way : it took his hand.

It was new to her, but not to him, so she had learned it from him. They withdrew their hands at the same moment.

Jonah knew next to nothing about the sixth sense, it had always been this elusive, annoying deus ex machina from cheap stories. But this, this had to be something like it. There were no sounds or even any semblance of spoken sentences, and he had trouble distinguishing with what were his emotions and those that belonged to the creature.

He breathed in slowly and deliberately, trying to place this experience into his previously dull life.

Facing a strangely xenomorphic entity that attempted to communicate with him through emotions, stuck on a rotting planet while Marines without insignia walked around trying to kill him ... more? This was her gift of information, there were many more and they all lacked the signs. She had seen Jonah's companions too and noticed they did have signs ... the others didn't.

Her thoughts gradually wove together with his until he could see her memories as if they were his own. The emulation of minds only clarified a few things though. The fear and confusion was his, the sight hers, as was the loneliness.

The wish to kill the murderers, he wasn't sure about that. But he had to go save his companions.

"Do you want to come with me?" he asked.

She did.

"We need help and you won't be lonely if you come with me." he continued muttering.

She needed to answer a second time before he understood, wordlessly relaying that she wanted to follow. Going home. She knew that too.

This planet wasn't home, never had been, even though she had never known home either.

**· · · · · · ·**

This was not exactly comfortable. Seated on her skeletal back was quite a challenge on its own, he could easily fall off with what little he saw and his freezing limbs really didn't help.

She didn't like the cold either and she absolutely hated the darkness. Off course she could still 'see' in it, but she liked using her real eyes, even if they weren't very sharp. Just like his. Jonah couldn't help but wonder whether this was why she had taken a liking to him. Simple identification can bring companionship very far, though were it goes never is a certainty.

Now they were going somewhere warm, she had promised. It made him smile at first, but then the images came. A form of sight neither consisting of colors, nor sound, until his brain added this to the vision.

It wasn't just warmth, it was fire. The ship on which he had arrived was burning, bodies were inside, pipes exploding, enemies leaving it behind ...

They had done it. Those people, who ever they were, they had killed them. He hadn't known them well at all, but they hadn't deserved this, they'd been his companions ... the enemy would kill him too.

In tandem with the rise of his hatred, she added hers. He hated them, so she hated them.

_Would he like to go and kill them? She had killed all the nasty black brood once. These would be easier._

Yes, he would like that. He hadn't considered murder ever before, but she made it seem so easy. It was a matter of survival after all. But he didn't like gore. Maybe just leave them to suffocate?

But if they pursued them, then they couldn't go to the warmness.

It didn't matter, he let her know. That fire would go out eventually, but if they went off this planet, they could find more warmth than anything here. They would use those people.

Her instincts dulled his moral objections, his logic overpowered her simple desires and so they became a slave to each other.

The monster changed direction to the vessel in which the enemy had arrived.

It didn't take _too_ long before Jonah stepped off onto a higher boulder, peering out just over the mist. His new friend went ahead and soon the screaming started while he calmly sat down with crossed legs.

The air was too moist for the flame throwers and the gasses made it too dangerous. They couldn't see in the fog and she was too cold for thermal vision, yet lacked the electromagnetic field that the normal Internecivus Raptus already had little of. These little facts pleasingly mused through Jonah's head, and he used them to direct her how she ought to fight. It was like a video game and he had the remote control.

Her rage and power was so fascinating, death didn't look very scary like this. Here a missing limb, there a head torn off ... and he was safe here. Survival! How much more ... satisfying in real life.

Whenever she needed it, he responded by offering her a new strategy to trick the men. He was dimly aware of the man who tried to sneak up on him, but it didn't worry him.

"~ _I'm insane._ ~" he thought when observing his detached attitude. Turning his head slowly, he saw his enemy's weak spot. Not alert, opening from below ... with the sudden speed of adrenaline and an unfamiliar instinct, he had leaped up and forced the soldier's riffle upward. They both fell off the slippery boulders.

Jonah ignored a punch to the face and brought his hands to the soldier's face, pulling off the oxygen mask and forcing him under water.

This was self defense, right? He had to kill to survive. It was good. All that mattered was the safety of the family.

_What family?_

With a sudden inhale, he pulled back.

The soldier struggled up, Jonah now saw he'd already been injured by his friend. No wonder he had gotten the advantage.

The riffle ... there. He lunged for it and aimed, but didn't shoot. The adrenaline that had seemed so helpful just moments before now sent his heart racing almost painfully.

He had allowed her instincts to control him too much.

"~ _We need them alive! We need them to fly off away with us!_ ~" The thoughts raced through his head, but she only caught slowly onto their complicated meaning.

She kept killing, but by the time she arrived at Jonah's side with a stream of acid behind her, she obliged to his will.

"~ _We need tactic too ..._ ~"

Pointing the riffle at the trooper, he said dryly said :"You are the last human aside of me on this planet. I'm the one with the weapon. I am the one with the alien friend. You have two options, I am sure you can guess either."

**· · · · · · ·**

The vessel's hatch opened to the docks of a nameless ship in orbit.

A man in a mud covered jacket stepped onto the dock, wearing an Enigma oxygen tank. At his side walked something akin to an Internecivus Raptus queen, yet with eerie human traits that pushed the creature into the uncanny valley to all those who beheld her : where the jaws of a queen would be was a sad skull-like face, half hidden under the corona. Translucent skin covered the entire being, rendering it a sickly white in contrast to the black it should have been.

The marines weren't certain whether they would have preferred the familiar rampaging queen or this quiet, haunting being. They didn't understand either why she — and they — didn't attack.

Not until one of the androids made a move did they get the idea to move, but here the human queen shot forward and destroyed the android, only to return to her docile moaning just as quick.

The humans still stood there, and they ignored the words of the ship that commanded them to act.

One by one, those who responded to their confusion by upwelling rage dropped to the ground and cringed, clutching invisible wounds and screaming. Those who surrendered to the fear froze, but only a few understood the power at work. It was the power they have come to claim, and it had come to them ... it had become matured and ready to be used, and in enemy hands.

Jonah noted this information with casual interest and didn't dwell on it. Evil scientists, what else was new? In a stoic trance, he made his way through the ship and harvested thoughts until he reached the control chambers.

Here the general and his subordinates suffered from the visions too, while Jonah was spared of them in the mental embrace of the chimera. He only experienced her massive presence, clinging to the little stability he offered; the experience of her murders she instead shared with the soldiers of this ship.

Telepathy, empathy, clairvoyance, they were powerful yet once you had them, amazingly mundane. It was difficult though, like solving maths had been in his childhood. He wanted to control the ship so they could leave, he needed them to obey because he lacked the knowledge to control the ship ...

Enigma? Yes, that's what this place belonged to. He watched the men on the ground cringe as he tried to break into their minds without getting caught in the visions, and then he wondered why he didn't care for their pain. Even if he wanted it for them, he had never been able to watch something suffer ... why now?

Enigma ... they had to leave.

Any sense of urgency or compassion was drowned by the chimera : she only rejoiced in the warmth that she had always needed.

New experiences, and best of all, she had found her parent. She was born to follow her parent. The parent hadn't been there.

He hated these humans. She agreed.

He thought these humans were dangerous. She agreed.

He thought they had to leave. She agreed.

He thought she had to continue locking these people in fear, except the ones they needed to leave. She agreed.

He thought she had to hurt them if they thought of hurting either of them. She very agreed.

Today had been a good day for her. Many new things. Joy and hate. Good to be so alive.

And now, they were going to leave the cold.

Father was going to do it.

**· · · · · · ·**

The fires of the salvage ship soon ceased burning and life on Terra Mirror continued dying. The planet became empty again, like it had been before the humans had come.

The ship in orbit that carried no name left.

But before perfect silence would step in, another ship would land, not too long after the departure of the nationless queen. It came merely to pick up the remains of the missing soldiers and the people that died in an accident trying to get their remains.

No one officially reported the strange sight they found near an inexplicable crater. They had found the shell of a praetorian in the process of becoming a queen, but it had burst open from the inside. They took it along off record, and that was that.

**· · · · · · ·**


	3. Cancelled Emotions

**· · · · · · ·**

_Year : 2577, October 31_

_Classified Location, proceed to Planet Temple._

**· · · · · · ·**

Sleeping was no better than waking. With his pillow and blanket, Jonah was lying on the floor aside of his bed, like he had done long ago with long gone friends. Whispering about unraveling the mysteries of the universe, drifting between fantasies of adventure and glory, being total empty headed morons ...

Now, he was resolving a mystery of the universe : the DNA of the biomechanic Internecivus Raptus, if it could be called DNA at all.

He hated every inch of it, for there was nothing glorious about it. Reality wasn't about heroes and villains, it was about civilization, those that benefited its flourishing and the things that were a danger to it. Stories no longer stirred anything in him, he only had the memory of excitement and no more.

He stood up and walked to a nearby cryogenic container. His hand lingered on it, then he reached for the cold bottle and took it with him to a desk. After a few minutes of waiting for the temperature to rise, he took a syringe and injected himself with the fluid. It was his salvation from her mind and heart, at the cost of his emotions.

She already knew, he was sure, but she couldn't make him suffer for what he did, not anymore.

"Doctor Bayard, report to laboratory B-21 immediately."

He slowly looked up at the intercom.

"I will be there soon," he said.

"You'll be here _now_!"

The voice was tensed, angry, but Jonah experienced nothing. He stored the bottle and changed into his laboratory clothing, not particularly hurried.

Before he left, he halted to stare at a motionless shimmer in a dark aquarium. Still, he felt nothing. If he had, that shimmer wouldn't be here, would it? Then he was on his way.

The trouble could be heard in the middle sterilization cell already. Doctor Sullivan was furious. The man was in charge, so he was allowed to lose his temper and he did it oh so well. As soon as he caught sight of Jonah, he stampeded towards him and glared up into his eyes, mere inches between them.

"You did this!"

A brief rush of nervousness was blissfully killed off by the drug, and Jonah looked down into Sullivan's face. Jonah was a little taller than him, which unfortunately meant he always looked down the man. Hm, why didn't all scientists decide to take the drug? All these outbursts were so pointless.

"What did I do, doctor?"

Sullivan pressed his lips together and grabbed Jonah at the arm, dragging him along. He was slammed against the glass that separated them from an incubation chamber.

Five open eggs, three dead orincubix, two trying to find a way out. The motionless human clones they had been offered were rejected.

"What is this?" Sullivan demanded.

"It seems they are rejecting the hosts," Jonah replied. "I assume you blame me for this?"

"Well, who has been in charge of cloning lately, hm?"

"The previous cloning chief has already warned months ago that the RNA of the clones is decreasing in activity. To the orincubix, they would appear as useless or even dead. Furthermore, the sped of growth process is only increasing the malformations of the clones. Surely I do not have to point out some of them have three arms or multiple mouths?"

"You're saying this is my fault? That's what you're saying, isn't it, you little bastard?"

Jonah shrugged. "I know the procedure. I will be reprimanded, then I will file my report, then you're going to have to admit we need fresh hosts, and for the record, these clones are still from Emerson's career, not mine."

Irritation and overload of stimulation unfortunately were _not_ emotional chemicals, and the drug did not hold those back. Sullivan was his everlasting plague, and the faces around him never offered support. Though, they didn't attack him either, for they were all on the same rock. Nobody here dreamed.

"You just don't care, do you? You and that damn drug! If I had the authority to take it from you I —"

"Would have to explain to Enigma Zero why you were letting personal vendettas get in the way of protocol." Men like him would twist facts to suit their meaning and would let anger speak for their justice. Jonah had experienced this before, and perhaps the best way to stop it was to point out what exactly Sullivan was doing.

"You ... Get out of my face now!" Sullivan barked. Little drops of spit landed on Jonah's face, and he tensely wiped them off. Then he left.

"We'll get you strong people to clone," Sullivan muttered under his breath.

**· · · · · · ·**

_Time : 2577 December 5_

_Location : Planet Tartarus, Gytnon city_

**· · · · · · ·**

Like a mechanical rainforest, the hangar filled with chattering as passengers dripped in. A man in a fancy suit soon arrived to deliver a speech about how honored they were to be taking this trip; few cared since they had come for the free holiday rather than the scientific wonders they were about to behold.

Boarding the ship proceeded smoothly, save for a minor incident where a woman dropped a bag. Her things scattered over the floor and she quickly bent down to gather them up. A late pair of legs trampled past her, nearly knocking her over.

"Hey, do you mind?" she muttered, but lacked the courage to call out loud.

A security guard approached her, urging her to hurry up and reprimanding her for not having given her bag to the appropriate androids. She pulled her half open bag closed and set her arms across it, just in case he meant to pick it up and carry it away. People tended to do that sort of thing to her, she had taken her bag along exactly because she didn't trust others with her stuff.

"Oh, why did I take it with me?" she muttered, ignoring the man. It was her toothbrush. Her antique toothbrush she would never brush her teeth with.

"Miss, we can't halt everything over one lost item."

He was right, logically speaking she couldn't demand they postpone departure. Reluctantly she stood up, still looking around, but she couldn't see it anywhere. The man escorted her inside.

Once there, it took quite a while before the ship actually took off, so long that Sarah eventually walked to a low window that showed the hangar, hoping to perhaps catch sight of her lost possession. Here she saw two more late passengers arrive. Sarah realized they had been expecting them, and she could have had a few more minutes to look for her lost brush. Irritated, she pressed her lips together. The man who had urged her to go inside was nowhere to be seen, but even if he had been around, she probably wouldn't have gathered up the courage to address him on it.

Common practice for Sarah, people always seemed to assume she was a poor little glitch before they'd even spoken to her. She had to be escorted and helped to follow the rules, how she inspired that she had no idea.

The ship took off, and she went to her designated room. The cafeteria was skipped, she disliked them for being so crowded.

The room was small and simple, very modest and hardly like it was build to belong in a luxurious vacation ship. She liked it this way, neither wasting money on frivolous decoration yet having enough pride for a few luxuries like a good music installation and 3-D projection. It was delightfully in the middle of balancing comfort and modesty.

She was about to make herself comfortable and test out to projection set, when someone knocked. Who ever knocked on doors to announce themselves in this day and age?

"Yes?" Sarah called.

"I found your toothbrush," someone whispered on the other end.

Sarah practically jumped to the door.

Her tooth brush entered right away, with a long-fingered hand attached. Sarah promptly took it and blurted out, "Thank you so much!" but when she had a second look, she fell silent.

The pale hand belonged to a very small person whose age seemed impossible to guess. Her white face was half hidden behind a thick sweater and curly brown hair. A ruffled skirt went down to the floor. Contrast to her overall fuzzy look, there was a huge leather backpack strapped onto her. Her form made her suspect a mutant, as the woman had large, dilated pupils. Sarah had her complaints about the way she was treated, but she knew that was nothing compared to the mutants that had been showing up in the last decades, the unfortunate result of too much petridish fiddling.

Perhaps not that beautiful, but the woman had a certain delicacy.

How long she'd been staring she didn't know, but slowly Sarah started to feel like waking up, and remembered her manners.

"Want something to drink? You've gotta forgive me if I serve bad stuff, I haven't tried out the services here yet," Sarah said and she turned away. While she ordered something from the wall, the woman noiselessly came in, making very small steps as she went to the farthest chair.

"So, what's your name?" Sarah said as joined her, only briefly wondering why she hadn't asked _what_ the woman wanted to drink.

"Eleanor Denarii. Please call me Kirindi."

"Hm, an unusual nickname, I bet there's an interesting story behind that."

"I don't know about interesting, I think it a sad story. It's not _my_ story, though," she said, indicated she wasn't going to share just yet.

"Well then, I'm Sarah Driscoll, nice to meet you," Sarah said kindly, restraining herself from asking about the story anyway.

"You can ask me if you want ... I might not answer though."

Sarah frowned, and for a moment dared think she had come across something unusual, beyond the mutant part. "Did I get you the right drink?"

"Off course," Kirindi said with a pleased, childlike expression.

Sarah leaned her cheek on her hand and thought, "~ Are you telepathic? ~"

Her guest widened her smile a little and said, "Yes."

"Huh ..." was all Sarah could say. Since when did miracles of nature just casually walk into one's room and announced " _hi, I'm here, let me share this secret with you that could end me up on some dissection table_ ".

"You won't tell, you find it fascinating and I would like someone to talk to. I choose well whom I let in."

Sarah should be freaked out, but instead a very cozy, soothing feeling overcame her. Like being home, and home was a planet with morning sun and freestanding houses and fields. At least, that was what Sarah's ideal looked like. Kirindi was very careful to hide what her own ideal home appeared as. It didn't matter. Present a geek with a freak of nature, and they will ask a hundred questions. Sarah was no different and did not neglect the invitation.

Kirindi replied to any non-personal question, explained how telepathy and empathy worked, summed up incidents that were related, knew her way around interstellar species and was a bit up to date on Auton too. Thinking up convoluted theories was more Sarah's territory, but Kirindi was eager to offer supportive or detracting facts.

Sarah considered herself to have guessed right, that this woman like herself was an outcast of society, but she'd met many of those. The last she had befriended someone was at college, ever since they had gone their own ways, she had been hoping to just walk into someone. She hadn't counted on finding someone in the outer rims, but then again, she hadn't accounted for telepaths either.

She didn't even remember looking out of the window as they left the atmosphere.

**· · · · · · ·**

The next day Kirindi had knocked on Sarah's door again, much to Sarah's pleasure, and had invited her to defeat a few people in the game hall. That was not something to Sarah's tastes, but Kirindi had somehow persuaded her.

Strategy games were their target, and as they played on Sarah started to notice she somehow knew the opponent's ideas. Kirindi just smiled at her frowns. Telepathy was more than just reading minds, she once had read, transmitting information was part of it too, if strong enough. There should have been fear or objection to Kirindi messing around like this, but they were strangely absent.

Why not? So telepathy existed, why wouldn't she just accept it and take a little advantage? Cheating alright, no question, but it felt wonderful to come out on top for a change.

She didn't always win, sometimes the opponents were still better no matter what she knew ahead or not, but they just as often won themselves. The opponents meanwhile got a little spooked eventually, and the next day they didn't have anyone more to play with.

There were plenty of other things to do on the ship, though.

Movies did nothing to Kirindi, something Sarah attributed to boredom. For a telepath, movies probably lacked a whole dimension that wasn't so easily suspended from disbelief. But as time went on, Sarah realized it might be a different thing altogether. She didn't understand art, at all. Yet, she could enjoy it because Sarah enjoyed it, by borrowing her emotions in response.

That huge backpack never disappeared. She must be very possessive of her items, another thing Sarah liked. After all, she herself was also quite protective of her memories. Well, not _this_ careful, but still, Kirindi could have a hoarding obsession or something. Any curiosity at the contents of the backpack remained unanswered.

A day before arrival, they had finally decided to eat in the cafeteria, simply to conduct a little test for the sake of self-satisfaction. There was a window table that gave a wonderful view onto a nearby nebula, and every day it would be occupied by the same group of people.

True enough, these people soon came over, a little miffed, and requested they find another table. Surely two people would not need this large table? Kirindi simply looked up with those dark eyes and caught them in, never blinking once.

"No, we're fine here. Why would _you_ need this large table, when you had it all others days already?"

They gave up amazingly quick and moved to another table. Sarah looked after them as they went and so her eyes passed the many other people who had gathered here. At this point, she noticed the first curiosity.

There were so many different people here, anything from refined looking gentlemen to rough mercenary types, all secluded into fitting groups by own choice. Even mutants and geeks were represented in her and Kirindi. Almost as if someone had made a collection of as many varied people as possible while still having enough for a control group, instead of choosing people who would understand anything about what they would see.

Hm, a curious thought. But before she could wonder whether it had been Kirindi's opinion, the woman raised her hand lightly and pointed at a particular table.

There sat a tall, tan man in his thirties and a younger woman who dressed like she knew she was attractive. The men that had approached them earlier tried to join their table, and were obvirously hitting on the young woman. Them they did not try to send away.

But the woman just laughed, told him to get lost and lifted him a leg when he did so.

"Ah, I wish I had the guts for that," Sarah mused.

"Want to have it, really?" Kirindi asked oddly.

Sarah smiled only briefly. "It's not that easy."

They ordered their food, and Sarah once again noticed that Kirindi's diet was bizarre to say the least. She had favorites, but there was no disctint theme on what she liked, sweet, bitter... sometimes it seemed to just be about the shape of the food. This was one of those things Kirindi did not answer about, too.

Their peace didn't remain for long.

"What was that all about?" someone snapped. When Sarah turned, she saw the woman from just before. Long black hair, black outfit like she wanted to star in some cheap action game, and instant dislike on Sarah's behalf.

"I saw you laugh. Did you send that guy to be annoying to me? I saw you stare at him when they came to your table and he turned around like a scared dog."

"Why would she do that? _How_ would she do that?" Sarah said casually and crossed her arms. "You might consider you attract unwanted attention due to the way you dress."

"I was not talking to you!" the woman snapped.

"He thought I wasn't human, so he left," Kirindi softly said.

Sarah didn't think that was enough and added : "You have an attitude problem, miss, making random accusations like that. But it's okay, you're probably just trying to compensate for your low intelligence." She could hardly believe she had the gut to say that. Maybe Kirindi was boosting her confidence somehow?

Now she had the woman's attention, in the form of a furious glare and a few fish-mouted attempts as forming a witty reply.

"Rynth got your tongue?" Just how dumb was this woman?

"You're lame," she just said. But instead of walking away, she got a chair and sat down. "So, you're so smart, eh? Provide me some exposition on what they're investigating on that place we're going to."

"It's explanation, exposition is for fiction. And how can you even be aboard this vessel and not know?"

"Got invited. Could use the free holiday. But knowing those, we're probably going to fight against monsters and evil scientists at some point." She shrugged and ordered a drink from the service wall, while Sarah rolled her eyes. "Doesn't matter, I get a free holiday till then. So what's your names?"

"Eleanor Denarii. She is Sarah Driscoll."

"I am Shadhahvar."

Sarah took out a pocket computer and accessed the passenger list, using a few easy tricks. "Oh really? According to this, your name is Mary Sue Mckenzie."

"Shadhahvar is cooler. So where are we heading?"

"Will you get lost if I tell you?" Sarah asked irritably.

"Sure."

"We are headed to a private research laboratory near planet Temple. It is called Enigma II. They research various alien lifeforms to find cures for illness, and they stand at the roots of what little progress or world still makes. Now you can leave."

"Sounds like a typical evil science place, yeah. Always is when they start talking about benefit of the world. So what are we supposed to do there?"

"We were given another short introduction when we first came into the cafetaria. Have you not paid attention at all?"

"Nah, some guys were making a fuss about my babies."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. Kirindi tilted her head, then said with a little smile : "She means her weapons."

"The station is attempting to increase better public relationships. Up until now, the government had to deny their existence due to the ridiculous controversy. We're going there to discredit the rumors," Sarah slowly said. Off course it was far more complicated, the reason for the sudden need for public recognition was beyond the comprehension of this woman.

"You don't like me, do you?" Shadhahvar asked.

Sarah hardly controlled her laughter. "Oh goodness, please. Off course I do not. You barge to my table accusing my friend of being telepath, without proper reason, and then demand to be educated about things you should already know."

Shadhahvar glared at her, but still didn't take the hint to leave. "Hey, Kiri, do you ever take that backpack off? I never saw you without the freaking thing."

"I need to keep it close by for safety," Kirindi mumbled.

A slight tapping noise was heard; Sarah was kicking her foot against the legs of the table. "Don't bother talking to her, it's none of her business. I know all about keeping my things close. They tend to get stolen and then tossed on lampposts or into toilets. I've been to highschool too."

"Oh, so sad for you," Shadhahvar said in a whiny tone.

"Anyway, Kirindi, back on the human position towards nature. While I certainly don't agree with the idea we should worship it or return to living in caves, I suppose some changes need to be made. So what do you think about the latest terra-forming techniques?"

Kirindi strangely looked at Shadhahvar for a moment, but then took Sarah's silent invitation to ignore her till she left. Shadhahvar tried to pop in a few more questions, but when receiving no replies, she finally left.

"What an arrogant snob," Sarah remarked while disdainfully looking after her.

"You are arrogant too," Kirindi bluntly informed her.

"Excuse me?"

"You always think about people as smart or dumb. You think you are smart and you think she is lesser for being dumb."

"I think she's lesser for being _arrogantly_ dumb."

"No, it's just because you think she's dumb. You act nice to dumb people in a condescending way, only if they respect you first."

"Look, I can't think highly of people like that, okay?"

"But nature's beings can change the way they think, don't they? They can do it themselves. I have seen them do it. Humans and yautja _can_ , if they want to. And then the soul from the past does not exist anymore."

"Oh? You speak if as you can't, then what are you?"

"I am just Kirindi."

**· · · · · · ·**

Almost it had seemed Kirindi had made another friend. That would have been made things even more difficult.

She had been told strictly to not mingle with the crowd for safety reasons. The true reason was that she would get attached, which might just get in the way.

Karga'te had warned them for this once, that her mind was hive oriented and she would look for a companion where ever she went. Off course, he had added this to hammer home why he didn't think they really counted as alive, for she didn't — couldn't — do so with androids.

Sarah Driscoll had been chosen for intellect, and this worried him. Any human would get suspicious after seeing another wear a backback for six days straight. This could be averted if she had just stayed out of sight long enough, but no, a toothbrush had ruined it. He couldn't leave her alone for a second!

He could only hope the human would assume Kirindi was a mutant with a malformation to hide.

The food on his plate posed a metaphoric barrier, a notion he quickly deleted. Then he proceeded to feign eating it, while storing it in a fake stomach for a later visit to a garbage burner.

**· · · · · · ·**

Jonah leaned against the window that gave view to the hangar, mildly realizing he should be disturbed at his own interest in seeing the future hosts.

Behind him, Schrödinger rapidly typed on his keyboard, producing an endless chain of repetitive irritation.

"When will you be gone?" Jonah asked flatly.

"Just a while. We don't want the welcoming speech messed up, do we?"

"This _holiday before death_ charade is useless. Let's just get it over with and store them."

"Can't. Pilots of the ship requested to stay for a day. Gotta keep up the charade."

"Since when does Sullivan care?" Jonah muttered.

"Since the moment you disagreed with him about it."

Once, Jonah might have frantically started listing reasons why it was pointless, but in this state of mine, he only experienced the tick-tick of the keyboard, which was more of a physical nuisance than an emotional one. That, and the sort of food Schrödinger had in his bag. Onions?

"You plan on eating here?" Jonah asked coolly.

"Off course, you'll shut an eye for me, won't you?" Did that man honestly fail to understand when he wasn't wanted? How could this man possibly make a credible android?

The metallic androids had been reintroduced by Dr. Elcyon of Enigma IV. While mindless robots were dangerous if anyone where to get a hold of them, for a station such as this they were preferred : marines died too easily when the brood got itself free, rare as that was.

The passenger ship arrived, and Jonah, having nothing better to do, kept his eyes on it. Docking, standard procedure, and then many little ants swarmed out of it. They'd be very dead soon.

His view was suddenly interrupted by a holographic projection. Hm. Jonah quickly looked over it, it was the Philidon's passenger list. A few faces were selected and enlarged, while Schrödinger said : "Look at this one, lovely, no?"

"I will not look at this," Jonah said as he sidestepped a few meters and continued watching the ants.

"Why not? Afraid of pity? Don't bother, you sold your soul the day you took a job here."

Jonah shrugged and still looked at the ants. He didn't want to know their names, that was all. Schrödinger still didn't get the hint.

"But you are looking. Utara and me designed those eyes, remember? You can count the hairs on their heads. Come here, proof you're not feeling pity on some purely intellectual level."

The sad part was that Schrödinger, due to his profession, never had tasted the emotive killer drug. While he understood cyberspace and machines, he did not understand neurology. There was little use explaining him he really wasn't feeling anything.

He looked. He saw many meaningless letters.

Then he saw Sarah Driscoll.

There was no actual emotion, but there was the frame of his mind and memories that caught the name. Calmly they processed it, and found it unacceptable that that name was there.

"Schrödinger, did you perhaps receive any special orders concerning the selection of Host Import 042?"

"Yeah ... now you mention it, I had to add someone special to the list. Sillyvan asked for it himself. I just did it."

Jonah cast another glance out of the window and saw a chubby figure with blond hair, his friend from high school, as she left the Philidon. How unorthodox emotions seemed right now, such as the spite that must have inspired Sullivan's payback.

Sarah was what he would call a friend, and even without active emotions, it became apparent to him that he still considered her thus. She would not become a recyclable host. He needed a little word with the general now.

Schrödinger straightened his back with an uncomfortable crack and watched Jonah speed out of the control chamber.

"Utara, what was that all about?"

The AI answered as stoic as she ought to : "Personal human matters."

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I'll figure it out myself."

Hacking the date of Jonah's eyes, he found what he had been looking at : one random person, and it was the name he had been asked to add. While staring at the enlarged view on his monitor, Schrödinger became increasingly aware of the pale woman with curly brown hair, standing at Sarah's side. She didn't move, didn't blink, and stared somewhere with eerie, non-blinking eyes. It took him a minute to calculate that with this camera angle, she was staring right at his position.

He should be unsettled, and make note to Utara that there was a potential telepathy amongst the hosts. But somehow, he felt very relaxed and at ease, like he wasn't even on this rotten station.

How long he'd been staring he didn't know, but it felt like he was slowly waking up.

**· · · · · · ·**


	4. Everyone's Secrets

**· · · · · · ·**

Leaving the passenger ship had proceeded as planned. After the first digital headcount he had sneaked away.

The ventilation shafts of the station was ridiculously wide and allowed him to crawl through. While the specific design purpose of such airshafts alluded his logic, he possessed enough imagination to think perhaps the scientists liked a mobile hiding area in case the drones got out. So he mused while hacking the station's main A.I. system, holed up in a small maintenance chamber.

Curiously, he found two more active AI systems aside of Utara, ... no, just two, but one was split up. No such records they had found when researching this station, and he made note of it for more scientifically advanced androids to investigate later. For now, he was looking for the lowest levels of Enigma II, specifically a certain mundane storage room. It was a nice, neglected spot that due to human design imperfections served little to not purpose anymore. It was not cleaned, it was not used, and beyond its architect it was not _known_. A perfect spot to install a bomb that would have to detonate in time ... like, five years from now.

Time is trivial for an Auton, and he was not plagued by impatience or anxiety.

**· · · · · · ·**

Before entrance, they all had been given a vaccination shot, quite harmless, really, in case they caught a virus that was studied here. Then, a simple welcoming speech had been given, no more than Sarah expected since there were much less educated people amongst the visitors. Likewise, the guest quarters were plain and small, many had preferred to remain on the ship.

Now, the clock ticked an imaginary afternoon. Sarah entered the cafeteria of the station, Kirindi followed her with unusual shyness. Ever since they had arrived, her quietly playful nature had made way for a cautious one. Sarah for her turn was becoming increasingly irritated. They got to see a grand amount of nothing significant, not even any of the scientists had been introduced to them. All they had seen was some equipment. Sarah had handwaved it with the scientists being busy, but now she stood in the hall where they'd receive lunch, and there they were, chatting with each other.

Amongst the visitor group a number of other scientists was. They approached the group, were as good as ignored. Literary. They were simply stared at and not got a single word of acknowledgment. Maybe it was just her new found confidence, but Sarah was positively enraged. Kirindi tugged Sarah's arm, and Sarah noticed she'd been staring. Changing view from the Enigma scientists to the pale woman brought something calming, and Sarah followed her to a far off table.

"They're treating us like we're imbeciles," Sarah muttered under her breath. People passed them to other table as the tourguide urged them to keep a distance from the Enigma staff, they had been through a difficult time lately with taxing experiments. Two people stopped before Sarah and Kirindi's table, and Sarah recognized the boots of one of them. Looking up, there were the two mercenaries.

"Leave," she snapped, louder than intended.

"The other tables are almost full, and I'm getting the feeling right now is not the time for my friend here to start kicking a fuss with someone. I saw her sit at your table and not yell a few days ago, so I'm taking my chances with your displeasure," said the man. He waited no further and pulled out two chairs.

Food was served and Sarah did her very best to ignore the table manners of the woman, vaguely wondering whether the Enigma scientists had a similar distaste of the 'normal crowd' as she had of this person here. The man knew how to use tableware, but the woman was a disaster. Sighing, she reached for her glass and took a zip. The moment she swallowed she started to cough.

"My glass!" Shadhahvar stood up and snatched it away, spilling green splashes onto the table. "Daulnori Faria is nothing for nerds, you thief!"

"Shady, it was an accident. Calm down," the man tiredly said.

At that moment, the tourguide left the group. Sarah noticed Kirindi raising her head and the two mercenaries shoving their chairs closer to the table. The man now spoke, and his voice was deeper and warning : "Shady said you two are smart. Noticed anything off about this place?"

For the first time, Sarah really looked at them and wondered whether this was part of some joke. Shadhahvar seemed nothing but a teen brat with a vain expression, but the man's weathered face had something assuring. Though his hair was long and he wore a torn jacket, he somehow made a reasonable impression on her.

"I wouldn't know," she said with feigned disinterest, though she could not deny something indeed was off. Like, everything about this reception.

"It's little things. They way they have built their halls. The kind of scanners they have. The low number of guards. All ventilation shafts are have overly large entrances. There are little holes in the edge of the halls, I see no other purpose for them but being some sort of offensive," he summed up. Sarah burst in a snorting laughter. Oh, she had noticed some of these things, but she wasn't quite ready to accept any zany evil testing facility theories.

"Miss, I'm serious. I made a recording of our tourguide's voice and analyzed it during a bathroom visit. All repeated words are perfectly identical, he is an Auton."

"I could smell him sweat, he is no Auton," Kirindi said clearly but quietly.

Shadhahvar laughed. "Smell it? Sure." But her companion elbowed her harshly. "Cut it out, Jake!" she whined, but he looked at her with such anger that she shut up. Then he turned back to Sarah.

"Okay, maybe he's not, but there's plenty of other evidence that something is up with this place, like —"

"The tourguide is a cyborg," Kirindi said. For the first time, Sarah felt irritated at Kirindi. "So what if he is? Perhaps they are researching a safe way to build cyborg here."

"I don't know how she knows that, but I do know something is wrong with this place. I've spent most of my life in the company of the twisted side of humanity. We didn't enter this place as guests, we need to get out of here as soon as possible. Didn't you see? They treat us as if we don't exist."

"People ignore others everywhere. School, workspace, restaurants ..." It was so much easier to assume they were just trying to mess with her. Besides, the assumed cyborg was overweight and short, definitely not meant for violent purposes. Deceptive, sure. But not enough to make her panic.

"Enough now. What do you want of me?"

"According to Shadhahvar, you could get access to the passenger list with a few clicks only. I was hoping, you know, that you were some kind of genius. Usually when we're in this kind of pinch, me and Shady always manage to pick up a — no offense meant — geek who works out the technical parts of our escape." If Sarah had been waiting for an excuse to dismiss all she had heard, then this was her turn to laugh.

"You're so afraid, aren't you?" Kirindi said, staring at her hands. "Oh, look, new natives coming here."

Jake saw them first. A few more Enigma scientists, most of the older people. One stood out, a bright blond head that belonged to a young man who could have passed for an Auton even if he were flesh and blood. He looked around oddly, and his gaze settled on their table. Behind him, Sarah jumped up and shouted : "Jonah! Oh my, ...I can't believe it, Jonah!"

The next moment he was forcefully hugged. With some reserve he detached her and seemed to remind himself to laugh; a stiff laugh as if he were trying to imitate hers. If he were an Auton, or a cyborg, he did a poorer job at impersonating humanity than the tourguide did. From this distance, Jake could not hear what was being said, but Sarah soon returned and was nothing but cheer and brightness. She swung her bag across her back and declared : "That's my old friend, Jonah Bayard! He is a chief scientist here, can you believe it? Come on, he'll give us a proper tour!"

Kirindi looked like she was about to object, but Sarah grabbed her and virtually dragged her along. Kirindi nearly stumbled over her own feet and fought to remain straight up. Jake thought he saw something strange in the way her long skirt flowed, but then the tables blocked view.

Storm crows forgotten, Sarah only had interest left for her friends now. Jake watched them go, noticed the shocked faces of the other Enigma scientists and the increase of chatter. Some of them left through a third exit.

Shadhahvar poked him, holding out her cup. "What some?"

"No way. I won't be able to sleep for the next 5 day's if I drink that." She smirked, apparently unaware of the new clues. That meant he would have to explain everything all over again in a while, or she wouldn't be able to make the connection between the facts. When the mercenary pack had started making teams, he had picked her as his companion cause she looked tough and hot, and she was skilled in stealth, but for the rest, her intelligence and actual battle skills left to be wished upon. He had been such an idiot in those days.

**· · · · · · ·**

"Didn't you promise me a tour?" He remembered he should stumble over his words and said : "Oh, yes, well, I had arranged a clearance pass for you, I mean, I saw you on the passengers list. That whole surprise act was just for fun, I knew you'd like it better that way...anyway, I need to get a new pass for your friend, see, otherwise an alarm will go off and so."

He could imagine how peeved he would have been, had his emotions still worked. This could have worked if Sarah had not turned out to have made a friend. Hm, how interesting. Jealousy was intellectual for a great part, as he was fairly sure he experienced it despite not feeling anything.

It was convenient though, providing an easy excuse to not give her that tour. In a while, she and everyone else would fall asleep. He'd rather have her in his room than somewhere in the halls when that happened.

A few hallways and elevators later, they reached his apartment. Sarah seemed quite surprised, he could guess why : save for the occasional crumbled paper on the ground and his night clothes thrown on the ground, it was a lot more tidy than his student room. Had his emotions been on, he would have taken pride in that.

"Oh my ... you hired a cleaner. It's the 36th miracle in the universe!"

Or maybe not.

Sarah laughed and dumper herself on the couch.

"You are different," he said, a little worried on whether she was experiencing side effects of the drug. Sarah should not be so open.

"You're too ... calm. Calmer than before. Ah well. Why don't you tell me what job you do? Maybe then I'll get it better. All the dry, sciency details please!"

Was she high? Sarah should have her hands folded on her lap and be nervous. Not her feet on the table and her arms spread out on the couch's back, grinning madly.

"Doctor Bayard required in laboratory 15," Utara announced at that moment. Sullivan's home base. Jonah turned to leave.

"I will be back soon. Don't go anywhere, Sarah."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be here, waiting for that tour!" She jumped up and walking to a row of small sculptures line to the wall, then promptly laughed at them.

Now Jonah was seriously worried, but Utara repeated her message. He would worry later. As he walked past the other woman, he stopped. If the cyborg came to collect her, they might take Sarah as well. That was not the agreement he had made with the general, but he trusted none at Enigma II.

She looked at him with those creepy black eyes and softly said, "Should you not hurry, sir? Perhaps it is urgent. We will be fine."

"Bring some doughnuts when you come back!" Sarah yelled at that moment. "We'll be even more fine if we have doughnuts!"

He said nothing to that and the door closed behind him.

Kirindi smiled wearily. A man whose mind she could read only difficultly, for he had no feelings ... poor fool believed it meant he was protected. But only a little. Her sister still heard him, as she did herself. In fact, the two could hear each other stronger through him. Though, it was curious _how_ exactly his emotions were canceled out. It couldn't possibly be drugs, like he believed.

Well. Sarah was currently the greater enigma than he. Kirindi had given her a confidence boost, but now she was acting like she actually her a physical serotonin boost. Something had been in the food in the cafeteria, but all others only became sleepy. Nobody became drunk.

A third riddle came up then, which drew Kirindi's attention away.

In the wall was an aquarium, behind it in the dark was a pale white fetus in thick waters, and she thought no more of Sarah. Dilating her eyes, she gazed into the unlit aquarium. Anudjan had been right. Alive.

"~ _Worry not. You will die soon. Hope so. Pain will end._ ~" she gently told it, regretting that she herself could not cease it. A quiet, wordless answer came from a being that did not understand the concept of no pain or end, for suffering was all it had ever known.

What now? Sarah was here. That ruined her escape chances.

She could not go through the door. That would leave too much of a trace.

Perhaps she could access the ventilation shafts in the bathroom.

So wrong all had gone.

"Message for Kirindi," Utara said, this time softly.

Sarah found the bedroom with its waterbed, on which she started to bounce as if she were a five year old child.

Kirindi rolled up her right sleeve, revealing a dark metal gauntlet, she turned it on.

"Kirindi, who are you not on your way?"

"Sarah did not sleep and she would not leave me behind. Sarah has a friend here. He wants her to live."

A few seconds of silence, then the android was up to date.

"Okay. Kirindi, get moving. Do not be soon. The ventilation shaft in the bathroom was accessible."

"Faria herb. Could that be why she does not sleep?"

"What?"

"Another of the guests had it. Sarah accidentally drank it."

"Dammit! Faria herb overrides sleeping drugs, meaning there will be a problem for who ever else drank it."

"We can use it. Shadhahvar will help, she will like it. She can destroy the powersource in my stead, and I will head to stop the impregnation instead, and then to my sister." With that, she broke the contact, not leaving room for argument.

In the bathroom, she started taking off the camouflage clothes. The backpack slid off, revealing six blade like extensions, white like her skin but hard as xenomorph hide. Gladly she unrolled her sharp tail, annoyed of having to walk for days with it curled around her legs, only able to take small steps at a time. She stretched for a moment, then rose to her four toes total and yawned, forming an awful grin with her dark fangs. Then her face slipped back into the humanoid proportions it usually had, leaving on those eyes to betray her inhuman nature.

Out of the backpack she took a few additional pieces of armor and her simple gray outfit, which she always wore at home. She placed them on and then turned her attention to the ventilation shaft. Currently it was locked, but opening it was not too difficult, as it served as hide out for scientists in case of emergencies. Too small for a drone, but she could fit in easily.

Just when she was about to slip in, when Sarah entered and grabbed her tail. Kirindi was a little surprised Sarah snuck up on her, she was unaccustomed to reading drunk minds.

"So you're going too?" Sarah said, barely staying on her feet.

"Yes. I am sorry. You have to stay. You are not in the impregnation room and I cannot take you along. But perhaps you can come later?" Kirindi said.

Sarah blinked. "Ah, good, I don want babies anyway."

Raising her hand, she looked at the tail. "Wow ... it got you real hard, did they? I want a mutant tail too."

Kirindi tilted her head to the side and sadly beheld Sarah. "No. Not a mutant. I am from ... places like here."

Carefully so not to hurt Sarah's hand, she withdrew her tail and vanished into the shaft, sprinting away on all fours.

"People going on adventures without me again ..." Sarah mumbled. She made an attempt to climb into the shaft as well, but fell off repeatedly. It was high, and her hands did not obey as they should. "Stupid people."

She sunk onto the bathroom floor and laughed.

**· · · · · · ·**

There were no more hallways before him, only a few catwalks. The engines were cold and the cooling system not as perfect as it should be. He climbed out of the ventilation shafts, nobody would be here for a long time and now that he owned Utara, nothing would see him.

He crossed the hall undisturbed and found his way to a wall of pipes, which he climbed. Just when he had reached the top, where the next tunnel would be, he anomalous sound reached his ears.

The tapping of fingers.

He froze at once, hanging on the pipes in the darkness. Scanning the area, he found nothing, and Utara's records were blank. In fact ... they were blind right here.

A door closed in the distance.

"That's it. Let's head up."

Approaching footsteps on the catwalk right below him. The darkness should hide him, so he silently changed his position, allowing him to look down.

Two men walking, hurried. They were uncomfortable and human. At times like this Y-921 found himself more human than android, for curiosity got the better of him. He waited for them to disappear, then he went down again.

They had come from a chamber with cryogenerators inside. There was no data on this, and his curiosity became stronger. Forbidden information, and the very mother of the ship itself, Utara, did not know it was here? Really?

No locked door. No security. No visitors expected.

At the center of the room, two sealed basins, two xenomorph eggs. Still no information from Utara.

Radiation?

No answers.

Slowly he turned around, walked away, while his imagination played wildly with possible options. Curiosity or not, he could not find out. Soon, this all would not matter. He hoped.

He wasn't on this mission because he believed the xenomorph could not be used for good, but because he knew the humans would not use them for good...and whatever was up with those basins soon would just not matter anymore.

**· · · · · · ·**


	5. Monster Friends

**· · · · · · ·**

Jake woke with a burning headache, something so accustomed to him he thought the nasty dream was just one unpleasant side effect of too much liquor or an encounter with the wrong people in the wrong alleys.

The sensation of being moved wasn't all that unusual either. Being wheeled to hospitals tended to involve that. He'd have to escape before arrest, as usual, but that could wait till whatever injury he'd gotten was healed.

Looking through his eyelashes, he saw a slightly warped world pass by.

He didn't feel the slight movement of air either. He was apparently encased in a tube.

Now _that_ was unusual.

... aw crap, twenty years of reality without villains and then he got kidnapped by evil scientists after all.

He closed his eyes and tried to feel the state of his body. Everything seemed just fine.

While he had tried warning some other people, Shadhahvar had continued drinking that horrid stuff and insisting he have some as well. He'd taken some sips to humor her ...

That was probably why he was awake at all. As thrilling as the prospect of escape was, it was equally likely it would only mean he would be awake once they started whatever experiment they had in mind. Probably not something they could do with clones, which meant it had to have a psychological component.

Experiments where he had to be awake to respond, presumably, and didn't get to die soon.

That should be _fun_.

Right. Time to consider escape.

It was a safe guess this tube was sealed pretty well, even if he could kick it open somehow, that would give security plenty of time to react. As the element of surprise was the only in his favor, the best way to wait until they opened it.

Hopefully, Shadhahvar wasn't too drunk to stay still and conclude the same. In the past he had discussed several tricky scenarios with her, and while evil scientists weren't covered amongst them she _had_ to remember the hammering he'd done on "bide your time".

After a while he felt his container being anchored somewhere. He heard muffled voices.

"Everything is ready, doctor Sullivan. I may assume you heard..."

"Yeah yeah, loose host. I'm pretty sure it's all Bayard's fault."

Bayard ... that was the man Sarah Driscoll had left with. Was on their side?

"Doctor Bayard has no been involved in the escape of any test subjects," said an echoing female voice, presumably the ship's AI.

There was a cynical laugh.

"Really? Too bad. I just would need something ..." The man trailed off, then resumed in a more stoic voice. "I have been waiting for months until Regina Insolitax would lay eggs. Two hosts less or not, we will proceed."

_Eggs_?

Jake forced himself to stay calm. It _could_ be Shadhahvar whom had escaped. She wouldn't abandon him, but she probably would do something stupid like run through the halls screaming once she didn't find a way to play guerrilla warfare — Shadhahvar had a somewhat one-tracked mind.

Then there was a click, indicating the containers were locked onto something. The hiss of a closing door followed shortly after. A long silence followed, then the containers slit open with a smooth hiss.

Jake jumped out at once, reached down to check whether he had either knife or gun and found them missing.

Quickly looking around, he found himself in a long hall, filled with open containers in which the other passengers slept. In the wall his left were windows a good ten meters above the floor, behind which a number of scientists stood. They seemed quite upset he was awake, but didn't hold his attention for long.

On the floor below these windows, more containers emerged from the wall. On them were monstrous, slimy seeds, ... eggs?

Jake backed away involuntary, frantically looked around for anything he could do. He'd heard rumors of acidic aliens, never had paid them much heed, but now ...

The eggs opened as if they were alive and released a swarm of pale, spiderlike creatures.

**· · · · · · ·**

The mother of these eggs only laid a batch once in several months, regardless of any stimulation they could administer. Jonah idly wondered how curious and excited he might have been, had his emotions been on. He was interested, but that wasn't quite the same.

Oh look, a host that was awake. Somewhat burly guy, tan, reached for missing weapons, probably one of the fighters. For such a special batch of eggs, they had wanted a most diverse batch of hosts. Jonah thought they should have done better background checks, one could never know what new and obnoxious drugs came onto the market to tamper with the brain.

In response to his casual thoughts on the inevitably violent death of that man, there with a tingle of rage — the sort that made him want to smash things — in the back of his mind. He hadn't been aware of that feeling for years. He knew it, it was the same as when the chimera had been locked away, screaming in his mind. It shouldn't be there at all, but there it was, and he wasn't worried. Not much to feel up front his mind, after all.

He wasn't a fool though. The other scientists fretted and decided on what to do, he just walked to the nearest computer and checked for the chimera's status.

"Checking on your girlfriend again, Jonah?" someone called. He shrugged.

Utara told him the hybrid was in it's prison and asleep. He informed her of suspicions she might try to wake, to which Utara suggested she might be responding to the eggs. It was noted down, but there was no increase in the chimera's sleep protocol. Jonah felt mildly annoyed, but only insofar this emotion resonated with that of the chimera.

He returned to the window and watched. Some of the orincubix had started attaching themselves to hosts, but they were now letting go for some reason. Others that had not yet changed course and scuttled towards the walls, curling up to die. It wasn't a motion in tandem, some took longer to defect than others.

What did happen in tandem was the response of most other scientists, save those who had their emotions disabled like Jonah. Sullivan started to tremble with anger, slowly boiling over until he exploded.

"Someone tell me right now what the hell is going on here!"

A few scientists started to mumble, offer up theories or curse themselves. Sullivan ignored them and turned to Jonah.

"You! You know something, I can see it in your face!"

If Jonah had felt anything personally, aside of that isolated not-his-own-rage, he would have made a remark about how his facial expressions were lacking due to certain drugs; did Sullivan remember them? They were his idea.

When Jonah did not respond beyond turning his face to stare, Sullivan pushed him. Jonah stumbled back against the nearest control panel, his spine right onto the edge. It hurt, but once the feeling subsided, he just sighed.

He thought for a moment, if only to give Sullivan an answer. He didn't want to be fired, after all.

The chimera might be the cause of the emotion, which suspiciously coincided with this event. However, this had never happened during Regina Insolitax's previous eggs. The orincubix had all behaved as they should, only having failed due to the host bodies being of poor quality. Something had come aboard that altered the game and could possibly affect the sleeping sister ...

"Doctor Sullivan, I have never been told where Amy came from. Whatever caused her, were there more which might have slipped our radar?"

"What?"

"Amy could affect a mass of people into believing they suffered terrible pain. I wonder whether something smarter could affect orincubix to believe their purpose is served."

Fear was one of the things that the drugs affected in him. Lacking this, he had to apply reason to the current situation. The orincubix down there weren't dying, just moving closer to the walls. He was a good counter, the majority of them was congregating below the windows.

There was something on the opposite wall, quick, fast, moving, invisible ...

"You think there's another chimera and it came here?"

"Possibly. Wasn't there an escaped host earlier? Someone should investigate her records, I suppose," Jonah said.

"I'm not going out there, if that host really is ... she looked pretty human too ... and she was with that man who's awake now, ... is he one too?"

"The eggs that resulted in our charming little chimeras were all females," Sullivan grumbled, then grew an odd grin. "Maybe he's the invader's equivalent of Jonah."

"Doctor Bayard, why don't you go check the records?"

Jonah nodded, didn't comment on the fact that Utara could just look it up and tell them, and left. The door closed behind him, he could hear it lock.

He walked to his room. If he was correct, and inside there was a sister of the chimera, then he would rather be out of the way.

In the far off corners of his mind, he started to notice an increase of happiness. She was watching through his eyes, he realized, and now she knew what he knew.

**· · · · · · ·**

Jake watched in confusion at erratic behavior of the mutant crabs. One had made a feeble attempt to launch at him, he'd caught it and it had just lost interest. This was probably an awkward moment for whichever mad scientists had invented these creatures.

He was just trying to figure out what to do now — all doors were still closed, lots of sleeping people who might need saving — when a bright orb of energy surged through the air above him. It hit the windows, seemed delayed for a split second, then the plasticide burst. The scientists inside scattered, but none were hit. The shot had been aimed at the control panels, for as far as Jake could see.

He turned to where it had come from, but didn't see a source.

The mutant swarm started to move again, all cluttered towards the broken windows. Morbidly fascinated, Jake watched them climb atop each other with perfect balance until they formed a chain to the gap. The entire swarmed climb through the window and he was ignored. The scientists started screaming, tried to open the doors but could not get out.

Behind him, Jake heard an odd sucking sound. He turned to see one crab having attached itself to a host face, and a few others trying to do the same. Two more were coming his way.

A blurry wisp of air jumped in front of him and battered the two away, hissing loudly.

"~ I can't call them all back. Come with me! ~" something told him. He wasn't certain he had actually heard it.

The shimmering air seemed to reach out a hand, and Jake felt oddly confident his best choice was to let that hand lead him along. Into the vents they went.

**· · · · · · ·**

"Thank you very much ...ehm... I suppose it's not Eleanor?"

Kirindi shook her head, pleased to find his response less than " _Aaaaa, scary monster girl, let me irrationally scream and run away_!" It was so difficult to convince those to stay, and stay she needed him to.

"They would call me an Amy here, because of what my mother called her only real daughter. I'm fake. Mother was a fake too. So, I am Kirindi."

It was funny to see herself through his eyes. He didn't find her pleasant to look at, thought she was something of a fleshy insect. She supposed the skeletal tail and the six spikes on her back did it, along with her anti-corrosive armor made out of kainde amedha shell. He amusingly though it was part of her body.

"So, Kirindi, what are you ... doing here?"

She smiled at him, it was nice that he thought he shouldn't ask about what she was. It meant consideration, and such people she liked to have in her hivemind.

"I need to find my sister. She is also an Amy, but not Kirindi. She is here. We don't want to be here, so I came to get her out, she will like it better where me and father live."

He had unpleasant thoughts about what it meant that she had a sister, which involved exploding wombs. She soothed down those thoughts and said, "No, I was from an egg. Mother was from a tube. No explosions."

Jake was starting to fall into that confused state that really didn't help humans.

"Could you do something for me?" she asked quickly.

"I think so. What would it be, miss?" he said. The vent was rather cramped, he tried rearranging himself.

"Go into more vents and sabotage something. I asked my friend to send Shadhahvar there if he met her. I can do that from a distance, you know...but don't tell anyone, okay, that I can do that?"

Ah, there was that shock when a non telepathic creature learned she was reading their mind. She quickly suppressed the panic that was whelming up in him; he really shouldn't fear _her_ , she knew she wouldn't do anything bad.

It slowly worked, where he had momentarily threatened to see an enemy in claws and tail, he now saw more of a child in her. Kirindi didn't know whether she was innocent, but he seemed to like that thought so she let him play with it.

"Is what I am supposed to do going to help me get out of here?"

"Off course. You and all those people back there and Shady too and perhaps Sarah too, I hope."

"Aren't those things —"

"My friend released seven digital enemies on Utara, the AI that controls this ship. They're battling now and they should close the pods when they can. The humans will be save, don't worry."

"Okay ... do you have a map for me somewhere, and ... weaponry perhaps? Yes, I need weapons."

She nodded eagerly and hoped he'd soon adapt to the hivemind. He seemed a little too slow right now. She pulled out a tiny gizmo from one of her gauntlets and handed it to him.

"The red side, push it with your fingernail. I fight with my body and plasma caster only. You cannot control the caster and can't become me, so nothing I can give, sorry."

"It's okay. I'm already glad I've got a shot at getting out of here," he said as he followed the instructions.

A three dimensional map manifested, displaying the entirety of Enigma II.

"Woah." He was awed both at the expanse of the ship and the technology in his hands. She quietly urged him to go, they were on a schedule.

"Push it again to make it vanish," she said. He did so, and pocketed the gadget.

"Say, Kirindi, if your sister is here, does that mean there are also others of your...kind?"

She nodded, but said no. "I hunt the other Kainde Amedha. We only have sharp blood in common with them, we are our own kin. I have not met Kainde Amedha that could be as us. Kainde Amedha that don't disturb the balance of nature."

Oh, he didn't quite know what xenomorph were, only had heard rumors.

At that moment her gauntlet beeped.

"Kirindi, I am here with a certain Mary Sue McKenzie. She insists on joining our rebellion and wants to be useful. According to my digital friends, you have acquired miss McKenzie's friend. Do you think they might be of use?" 921-Y said.

"Yes, I read his memories, he is a mercenary good enough. His friend can help him, if directed, I think." The compliment seemed to fall in good earth, and a flare of feeling his privacy was being invaded cooled down quickly under her mental hand. It helped him to know she didn't find anything embarrassing, would never tell his secrets. She didn't understand why it helped him, for her a hivemind was so much more pleasant than secrecy, but that was how humans were.

"If they can take care of the generator, this could buy us a lot of time. Utara is dealing better with my attacks than expected."

"Hey, I know you, you're the pilot of the ship that got us here. I haven't got a clue what I am doing, but I'm with you guys. Miss Kirindi just gave me a map of where I should go."

"Excellent. It will show what you need to destroy." There was a brief struggle while Shadhahvar tried to grab 921-Y's arm, thinking it was his phone, and shout to Jake about how he owed her an apology. Kirindi had considerably more trouble with influencing Shadhahvar, any thought given to her risked flying into some random direction. Kirindi shared this with Jake, who grinned in response.

"Alright then, I'll be heading there and destroy that generator," Jake said. "See you ... nevermind."

Jake struggled to turn around in the air shaft and started crawling away in the direction Kirindi pointed out, still mentally linked. She was pleased he accepted the bond.

She turned too and went her own way, all the while continuing to ease Jake and Shadhahvar into the hivemind. One of the first things she learned them was the existence of xenomorph.

**· · · · · · ·**

Sarah's sleeping head felt like it had a hamster in a wheel running inside. That hamster kept running while she woke and found herself on a couch, Jonah standing over her.

"You saw her, didn't you?" said he coldly. "Care to tell me what she looked like? I assume the human part was a disguise."

Sarah felt like pretending to have no idea of what he was talking about, but didn't quite know what she wasn't supposed to know ... had she been holding a tail?

"I've been through this as well, with another one. I know what you're wrapped up in."

"What are you jabbering about, Jonah? Can't this wait? I have a burning headache. I accidentally drank some garbage from that idiotic woman and it's bloody awful." To add to the effect, she rubbed her head.

"It's calleidion," he said. "I took a blood sample while you slept, the effects will wear off eventually. The trap your mind is in won't."

"What are you talking about?"

"I still have a link with Amy, I noticed a few things. Also, your friend's records were a little too perfect. I had a good guess where to suspect another chimera. How she ever got off Terra Mirror is a mystery, but it's not impossible." He seemed to be talking more to himself than her.

"Jonah, please be clearer! What's going on?"

"Isn't she telling you?"

Sarah paused for a moment, tried to find a balance in her mind ... someone was indeed telling her things. Lots and lots of things. Xenomorph, Internecivus Raptus, Jake and Shadhahvar were family now, Jonah was a traitor, watch out.

She sat up.

"Jonah, how did you come to work here?"

He sighed. "Have you ever heard those rumors about what took Earth from us?"

"Off course."

"Internecivus Raptus, as perfect as a non-sentient killing machine can be. We have two hives and three queens. We cannot tame them, but there is indication we can rewrite their instincts on a genetic level, so that they become tamable."

"But you —"

"Let me finish. The Enigma stations are in service of pursuing this and thus hunt down various creatures that could give a clue about how to achieve this goal. This led them to a recovery mission of certain eggs, curtsy of United Systems Military on Terra Mirror, where I happened to be. I was to be cleaned up, but bonded with a human-xenomorph chimera there —"

Kirindi responded to this by filling her with knowledge of this, fragmented memories even that seemed to come both from Jonah and her sister.

"Stop. Just, stop! Don't talk anymore, okay?"

"Sarah, please.."

"Don't say anymore!" Sarah felt tears run down her cheeks and she stood up, pacing to the other end of the room. Once there, she whispered, "Murderers."

She heard Jonah turn away. The door opened, and he paused to say, "I do agree with you, Sarah. We are murderers. Don't lump me with them though, they chose this job, I had no such luxury."

Before she could consider what to say, he was gone and she was left with her thoughts. Awareness of Kirindi became stronger, a soothing feeling.

Monsters did exist, and her old friend Jonah had become one of them by mind, as Kirindi had turned out to be one of them by body. She didn't like monsters that wore human bodies when that implied being humane, she decided.

Kirindi said she had befriended Schrodinger, but couldn't befriend Jonah. He had something in his head, and mind, that made him resist. No emotions, she told Sarah by letting her feel the gap he hovered above.

Monster.

With sudden vigor, she spun around and ran after Jonah, grabbing the nearest solid object. The door opened for her, she knew what to do.

He was about to ask her whether she needed anything or wanted to continue the conversation — Kirindi got that much from his mind — and Sarah rammed the vase on his head.

He slumped down, vase and fake flowers splintered around him. Sarah knelt down to check his pulse, felt a little relieved when he was still alive.

With some effort, she dragged him back into the room and left him on the floor.

Confusion and fear was still there, but Kirindi offered her a safe feeling too. Sarah felt powerful, and of her own she produced an almost childlike sense of amusement. There were xenomorph down below, bred from humans. They might be released.

She felt like meeting Kirindi's sister. There was a plan, it would be safe.

Sarah felt a little proud of being the only member in their makeshift hivemind whom Kirindi didn't need to steer. Just a bit of encouragement, that was all she needed. When she surrendered to the hivemind, it felt like she would never again be alone, never again need to fear social rejection, never again need to care for anything outside of them.

**· · · · · · ·**


	6. Hive Puppets

**· · · · · · ·**

Enigma II had plenty of inconspicuous hiding places. This floor was for pipes of the cooling system, not likely to be use for anything disruptive. What routine scanning might occur here would not be able to detect the bomb he was planting here. An architect would have to physically crawl down here to notice something was wrong, and they'd not likely have a reason to do so.

They would believe the mission had been about the chimera and the human prisoners. In part, it was. They were just using the opportunity to plant another bomb on another Enigma station.

It was all about strategy. At the right time, when their resistance was strong enough and they would issue their threat, it would be accompanied by some very nice explosions of crucial weapon projects.

Granted, their current strategy was a little off. Utara was smarter and they had a lot less time. Then again, Kirindi could win a compliant hive so easily, they could compensate. Kirindi's diligence in "befriending" people had a use after all.

He wasn't too sure though about her letting those scientists be impregnated with aliens. A little physical chaos might help, but it could also get in the way. Perhaps she had let it happen because she wasn't certain she could keep Schrodinger under control. Xenomorph might just get in the way of cyborg too, acidic as they were.

Kirindi had recruited Schrodinger in her usual way and so had relative control over the hardware of the station. This was presumably the reason they hadn't seen any cyborg yet. This man however had no innate reason to join up with Kirindi, having a well paid job that he enjoyed.

Problem was, without cyborg available Utara decided to release drones from previous experiments into the halls as a cleansing operation. He could only speculate for the reason such drastic measures were taken. No time for evidence gathering either.

Utara had just become aware of his existence.

He could not afford to be caught here, not so close to his little gift.

He quickly moved on, having decided to head towards the nuclear cells. If caught there, he could pretend his reason for having gone this far down was to investigate that experiment.

Precision was everything in this situation. He moved up the levels as quickly as possible to fake an alternate route, his freedom range lessening with the second.

Thirtheen seconds and it would have failed. Thirteen seconds and he would've been seen climbing out of the vents when Utara's scanners went back online. They hadn't. They only saw him running from the distant cell cluster that he hadn't come from.

**· · · · · · ·**

The vents lost their convenient width before the G laboratory, so Kirindi slipped out and went through the normal halls. It momentarily struck her as strange that Schrödinger had been able to disable _all_ cyborg, but her sister quickly reclaimed attention.

She stopped before the last door separating her and her sister. Echo showed it was too thick to tear down, her plasma caster too small to work with quick enough. Not without risking that a stray bolt reach her sister, whose prison was opposite of the door.

A subtle change in the magnetic fields of the station and a cheery Shadhahvar told Kirindi the generator was successfully offline _._ It puzzled her a little, she had hardly noticed anything of their efforts, but it wasn't too surprising in face of her waking sister.

She wanted to bounce, claw at the barrier between them. She didn't, she was kainde amedha and did not waste her energy like that. 921-Y would open the door soon enough, wouldn't he?

"Please, hurry ... "she whispered once.

She tried sending him a message, but there was no answer. Perhaps Utara had already reclaimed the radio channels.

Maybe ...

When the door suddenly without warning, she fell forward. Echo now painted a clear image of the prison in her mind. It was a round hall with a towering column from floor to ceiling. A large white form, her sister was in it, clawing weakly against the smooth cell. Kirindi immediately leaped up and climbed to as close as she could get to the glass. It all went quick, she warned her sister to move back.

With the power gone from this level, it only took one plasma bolt to destroy the rooting of the cylinder. No back up restarted it, no defense system was activated.

She waited for the flood of liquid to lose strength, then unsheathed her wrist blades to start tearing away the remaining glass.

Her sister crashed through it before she was done, tearing along the cables that fed her and had held her up. There was a cry, a slam and cracking as she hit the floor, then the sizzle of acid blood.

Kirindi felt the pain of impact and couldn't move for a few moments. Only knowing her link with Karga'te, she had not expected the link to one of her own to be this petrifying and intense. No long subject to the fields inside her prison, nor the chemicals, her sister's mind rampaged into clarity. Senses and feelings flooded Kirindi's mind, she had to force herself to climb down and collect herself.

Her sister had been locked up so long she had trouble orienting herself as well. Up, down, smell, sound, goo, shard, movement, the web of existence ... stagger, crawl, closer, sister?

The massive skull turned to Kirindi and a skeletal head slowly appeared from below the dome. She smiled, but her sister had no lips to smile back. Still hunched down, Kirindi moved closed and laid her hands aside of her sister's face. Their foreheads touched, and in their minds both smiled at each other.

A storm broke free in this silence. With inhuman speed they exchange their life's worth of memories and feelings. They were the same, same in pale skin, same in mother, same in need for a family.

"Like me," Kirindi whispered.

Her sister noticed the humans before she did and tensed up at once, a lust to kill brewing in her instincts. Through the haze of that rage, Kirindi only barely recognized Jake and Shadhahvar, but when she did she urged her knowledge onto her sister.

_Not a threat. Friends. Don't you feel? They're with us, they'll help us._

The two wearily waited at the entrance. Jake at the very least had a mind sharp enough to realize he had been in danger from the sister. Unlike with her sister, who eased down and trusted Kirindi unconditionally, Jake continued doubting even when the threat was gone.

Her sister turned her head towards them, and at that moment Shadhahvar's flashlight fell on her face. The woman screamed, dropped the light and turned to run. Jake instinctively caught her, clamping a hand before her mouth. Shadhahvar tried to bite, but he didn't let go.

"Shady, it's alright, it's alright. It's just Kirindi's sister, don't you hear?"

"Hmmhmhmm." Kirindi couldn't tell whether that was a yes or no; Shadhahvar seemed to know what was going on, yet was scared anyway.

"Shadey, I'm going to let go now, don't scream again. They're friends. Remember what I told you about life or death situations involving mad scientists and hostile monsters?" Jake removed his hand.

"They don't exist?" she said weakly, her eyes still in the direction of the chimeras.

"Mins that. Forget about that."

"We're going to die horribly?" Her voice became squeaky.

"No. We team up with the other people trying to escape. Kirindi is our ally, right? So is her sister. Understood?"

"But that thing looks like those monsters!"

"Shut up. White monsters be allies."

Her sister quickly became annoyed with the fruitless talk, she wanted out of hell now.

Her body was stiff and cracked as she stretched it. The goo that had held her earlier made the floor slippery, so Kirindi tried to support her, but with her little weight she could do nothing to help her stand up. It took a lot of tries to get all four legs under her sister.

The door was an even greater challenge. While she technically could fit through with her skull, she wasn't yet flexible enough to worm the rest of her body out when she low to the ground. After a lot of trashing around, she somehow still managed, mostly thanks to getting injured and her acidic blood eating away at the doorframe.

Once she was out, the next issue was finding a road she could fit through. 921-Y still was silent, so she had to figure it out on her own. She wasn't used to this, since father always had lead the way.

Well, in a way, this road would end back with father, so she was not lost.

**· · · · · · ·**

The general in charge of Enigma II's military arm was only in his middle ages, yet had more ripples than he should have. With Sullivan gone, he was the sole authority, a task he received by folding his hands and leaning his forehead against the tips, eyes closed.

Jonah patiently waited until he finished thinking. He was somewhat grateful for his own lack of emotions, he might not have been able to conceal that he'd left the scientists to die.

"What do we know?" the general said slowly, after several minutes had passed.

"That we are being invaded by an unknown number of highly advanced enemies capable of creating and unleashing artificially intelligent viruses. That is all we _know_. What I _suspect_ is based on a glimmer and no more."

"And what do you suspect?"

"That there is a relative of our white chimera."

The general stared ahead, then sighed. "So, that'll be the only freak show we'll be missing by the end of the day?"

"Possibly. If ... lucky, one may survive our current cleaning crew. But we cannot rule out though that they may have come for something else. Has Schrödinger set up cyborg with our other treasures?"

"Schrodinger is alive, but not responding. Can you do anything about that?"

"Perhaps not with my sixth sense disabled, but I will try."

"I'd appreciate it if you tried just with words. There's already enough creepy mindfucking going on in this place."

"I quite agree," Jonah said.

**· · · · · ·  
**

When they met 921-Y Kirindi was greatly relieved, a feeling prominent enough to stop her sister from charging at the moving blank spot without mental resonance. With some effort, Kirindi explained her that even though the android could not be part of their hivemind, he was not a machine that served the enemy.

He had been in the middle of rewiring a closed door, and didn't respond much when they joined him. He gave a brief status report without even looking up.

So, they waited.

Her sister did not stop communicating and had a much bigger brain to do so. The endless stream of memories and sensations threatened to overwhelm Kirindi and she had to sit down. It came to the point where even Jake, light as his awareness of the hivemind was, noticed something was wrong.

She felt his hand on her shoulder, looked up into worried eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"She cannot stop speaking to me," Kirindi whispered. He didn't fully understand why this would tire her. She did not show him, he would be unable to handle the chaos. When he noticed that was all the answer he would get, her sat down against the nearest wall.

After a while, he finally said it. "What are you doing to us? I know I'm somehow ... linked to you? Shady is here too, isn't she?"

"You are all in my hive."

He thought he should be angry, offended, even outraged. It was so contradictory, even now he still felt a wave of calmness coming from her. She smoothed away those feelings quite deliberately, they would make him function poorly.

"You don't want it?"

"You could have asked me. Hell, I have the right for my full emotions _and_ my free will! You can't just do this to other people just like that!" The anger really wasn't cooperating.

"I did ask you. You came in yourself."

"I meant consciously."

She tilted her head. For her tapping into people's mind was something that occurred naturally, that humans had issues with it had never occurred to her. Then again, she had never met humans before boarding the Philidon.

"Why?"

"That's the way rights work, okay?" Kirindi let him become a little frustrated, it seemed to put that other side of his mind at ease.

"I'm keeping your fear away a little still. I do not do anything to the reason or source behind your anger."

Another silence, for Jake at least.

"Is there someone else influencing me too?"

"You think that old Mother is doing something? She is rather strange, indeed ..."

"How closely did you follow me when me and Shadey disabled the generator?"

"I did not watch. My sister ..." She made a gesture at that great white creature.

"Maybe you should listen to that ... uhm, Mother. When we were down there, one of those ... things, those drones appeared. It didn't attack, it just very conveniently drooled acid on a place we couldn't get through and then left."

Kirindi blinked a single time.

"We could probably use the help," Jake added.

She didn't reply, kept her thoughts to herself and her sister, who feared all the other queens but had nothing useful to say on the one.

921-Y stood up and Shadhahvar at once asked, "How's it going? Can we leave yet?"

"Not so very well. I need an diryxinator, Jake would you-"

"Ooh, I know what that is, I can get it!" said Shadhahvar.

"Are you willing to stick your hand inside a bleeding dead cyborg?"

"Ehm..." Shadhahvar backed off, then turned for Jake. "Jake, he needs a diryxthingy!"

"What type?"

"Any one you can get your hands on," 921-Y said.

Jake stood up and started down the hall, intending to pull apart one of the cyborg they knew to be stored in a nearby hall. Kirindi gave Schrödinger a mental prod, asking him to please make this easy for them. 921-Y's viruses would make sure Utara would not get too much in the way of sending any protocols.

A still bored Shadhahvar turned her attention to the Auton again. "So, what are we going to do if we can't get this door open?"

921-Y sighed, just for show. "Hope Kirindi's sister can wreck a garbage hatch before Utara turns on the freezers on this level."

**· · · · · · ·**

Jumping over a pile of frosted fellow Servant, the drone continued towards the strange noise. It came from a huge mass slamming against metal, as far as his cold senses could tell.

The sound came from two strange rulers — not mothers, though one should be — whom he was to find in accordance to the call of his Mother. She was rather interested in them and called them adoptive Children, liked them far better than the new queens with their flawless, stagnated copies of their wills.

At least, he thought she liked them. It was rather hard to tell, since she slept an unnatural sleep curtsy of her captors. After she had laid her eggs, they had forced her back into that sleep, with her last command being to attend to these strange not-mother-yet-rulers.

He was close now. The crashing of the strangers had ceased, but he felt their presence still. Strange Children of an unknown Mother, one that was no ruler but just a mother. Searching their memories brought him no where, they had noticed him and blocked his curiosity. He did find out however they were allot older than him, though not even a fraction of the age of the Elder Mother.

Closer still. Just a few meters underneath him. Too late he noticed where exactly the humps in the floor he stood on came from, his senses too dull yet from the frost earlier. The huge head of the queen chimera burst through the metal hatch. It send him flying against the ceiling and bounce off to land on the corona of the much larger creature.

She was very offended by this, understandably. Violently she shook her head and the drone decided to latch on. Getting ripped apart was not in accordance with his Mother's command to help this creature.

So that arm reaching up while she tilted her crest to pluck him off was not productive. Especially not the getting thrown against the wall part.

He felt a few cracks inside, but quickly jumped to his legs again.

She still wrestled to work herself through the hatch. Soon her tail would be free, he might have to run.

Yep, tail free and coming right at him. He dodged.

She nearly fell forward as she pushed herself out of the hole, clumsy yet still fast enough to plant a claw on his tail. He turned and bit, though he wasn't strong enough to break her skeleton. Still, the thin layer of skin atop of it bled and caused her enough pain to release him.

He shot away and turned around at the end of the hall, finding himself not pursued.

The other stranger had climbed up and stood before her sister.

Slowly, he became aware of what went on in between them. The first sense of their hivemind was startling and crowded, not to mention how wrong it felt to join a hivemind not of his own Mother. Still, his Mother had told him to approach them, so who was he to deny the invitation.

They were physically so much like host bodies, he couldn't understand what his Mother wanted with them. Was the small one dominant, the leader? That made no sense. Had he misunderstood his own Mother's command?

No, he had not, his far away Mother told him.

With caution, he walked back to them. The smaller ex-stranger approached him, but then suddenly turned back at a certain noise. More hive members started to crawl through. While he did not understand their noises, he got the gist of their language through the sisters.

One of the humans complained about the state of their tunnel they had just come out of, apparently something relating to the smell. He was particularly confused when she said, "Just look at how I smell now!"

The other fleshy one was irritated and really hated the bad grammar, whatever that may be.

The third wasn't a real creature, though it pretended to be. The sisters thought of him as alive, but he could detect nothing to support that.

All three pseudo hive members noticed him. The two real ones did some screaming and fear, giving the small sister a hard time calming them down and irritating the big one. More noises between those four, and the distrustful mental prodding of the big sister.

Then the small one turned back to him.

The safe way out she requested. Wasn't sure whether he would comply, didn't trust him either.

They could call like mothers, but had that independence of host bodies, and they were sterile without ever becoming queens. Perhaps that was why Mother was so interested in them, their ability to mediate between two species without posing a true risk to her.

He doubted it a second later, then realized both doubt and understanding weren't quite part of his instinct. Odd.

Perhaps the small sister was doing this. It didn't sit well with him, she was guard, acting servant, getting the results of a mother. Whether that was better or worse than the big sister with her aggression he didn't decide on yet.

Well, Mother said help them. So he showed her what he knew of the way out. Back up, to where he was born, to start.

It was time to move. Careful not to betray their position any further than he had done already, he sensed for the presences of the hostile Servants. They were shrieking loudly on all tone heights possible, but their energetic fields were low and unaware of the presences of the others, either Fellow or Enemy. They were completely blind for this little makeshift hive.

His other brothers were also aware of the plot. It was their duty to lead away the hostile servants and create a free path. His Mother's captors had released the hostile ones to clean up, driving them forward with the cold from the walls. They were dying one by one, sometimes at the same time, as their duty was. He himself would have to die too, should it become needed, but so far he was to stay alive.

Somehow, he liked that idea. He'd been a chestburster not too long ago, it would be as unfulfilling as it was to his brothers, dying now without ever meeting Mother.

A tremble in the walls made him lose that little pleasantry. The force that controlled the cold was activating, had the invisible mind in the walls noticed them?

Probably, the sisters said.

He was about to break into a run when they objected. The small one did not want to leave behind the other three things, and her sisters automatically agreed with her.

But they had to run!

They would, but only as quick as the humans could keep up.

Irritated, he turned to the nearest human,stood on his hind legs and grabbed it. More annoying noise ensued when he pushed it onto the queen sister's back. She was insulted, but off course agreed when her sister explained the rationale behind it.

The other human seemed to catch the drift, and climbed on as well. The third, the fake life, declined. It could apparently run quick enough to keep up with the carrying sister.

Weird things, they were so different from one another. Well, at least they went quicker now.

They ran.

His Mother spoke to him again, much to his delight, but at once he had to push away the enthusiasm. He was told a new Command, which he was to keep well hidden from the two sisters. It was all she could tell him in this state, that and a warning of the enemy's approach.

**· · · · · · ·**


	7. Programs Will

**· · · · · · ·**

Jonah entered Schrödinger's cabin, a dimly lit space that smelled of chemicals. The man had more of an obsession with keeping his precious machines clean, cleaner than himself.

" _I'll just get dirty again anyway, but it's not going to make me malfunction, unlike my machines,"_ he'd always say. _  
_

Schrödinger was anxiously typing away on an old fashioned keyboard,muttering non stop. Jonah carefully tapped him on the shoulder, at which the man turned around in his rotating chair, smiling blissfully with one hand still on the keyboard.

"I can't believe you gave up on this so willingly," he murmured.

"I prefer to _own_ my own mind," Jonah said, not caring for the memory of how he had once felt about his current life.

Almost as if he knew his thoughts, Schrödinger said, "This hollow life is worthless in exchange for the hivemind. Or maybe _my_ chimera is better than _yours_."

Jonah shrugged. "That's not your chimera and you used to love working here."

"Tss, just because I didn't think about how dead everything here is. If you would have felt it, Jonah, you would have wanted to stay forever."

He guessed the chimeras had met. The effect on this man seemed far deeper than what he had experienced. Oh, the link between him and that thing had been profound, but it hadn't turned him into a waxing idiot.

"It's just a trick," Jonah said.

"So? _Everything_ is a trick. This hive mind is just a much better trick, and the viruses in Utara are a trick too. Such state of the art! Auton work, I know. She shares those things with me if I ask nicely."

Ah, there was a seed. No matter what delirium the chimeras brought someone in, they could not erase the personality that already was there.

"Did she tell you what the Auton can gain by helping her?"

Just a fraction of a pause betrayed that no, not yet.

"They are her allies and they are interested in her sister."

Ah, sister? He would have been curious if his own personality was half as in place as this man's, but instead he focused on the task at hand.

"I find it highly unlikely that they would help her because they are nice. You know what Auton are like, mister Schrödinger. Unlike your friends here, they aren't very nice machines. Off course they would send a cute little chimera, they know you are here and would otherwise never let them mess with their machines. Now, you're messing things up for them."

"What do you mean? She's blinding me for something?"

Jonah nodded gravely. "Will you listen for a moment?"

The simple truth was, nobody ever had to force him to break his bond with the chimera. They had simply made him listen to reason, and all the ugly truth that accompanied it. They had given him the choice of being a test subject willingly, or unwillingly. They had explained him the nature of telepathy and chimeras. He had listened. Nobody on Enigma was his friend, but he lived because he listened.

Schrödinger hadn't been under their touch for all that long, they'd never even really interacted. Jonah had an easy time talking to Schrödinger, but instead of the cold harshness he'd been addressed with, he played the role of concerned friend here to guide Schrödinger back to purpose. Kinda like a comic he'd once read, long ago when he could still enjoy things.

He was heard, too.

It took nineteen minutes before Schrödinger's other hand returned to the keyboard. This time, the typing was frantic and angered. Jonah patted him on the shoulder, and let him hunt viruses in peace. This time, he didn't have to pry the door open. Utara's control of the immediate area was the first Schrödinger restored to it.

Around now, Nuitar should make work of herding around the 'tame' drones towards the chimeras, which would also deal with the wild enemy hive. There were scientists down there, but he was incapable of caring for their lives. Existence was so easy this way.

**· · · · · · ·**

The cold drove them nearer, she could feel it.

When the flood of black monsters hit them, they had the luck to at least be in a hall. The main lightning was off, and only a few blue emergency lights glowed. Kirindi could see perfectly well on magnetism, but she worried her human allies would have problems getting where they ought to be. Telepathic aid or not, they were afraid, and fearing humans were not entirely functional. She had to fight, she did not have the time to give them calmness when she herself could feel no such thing.

With a soft click, he wrist blades unsheathed and telepathically probed the shrieking hive hurling their way. They were driven by rage, boiling down all sense of purpose to simple rage. Their queen wasn't awake to guide them, and they were not as natural as they ought to be. She couldn't expect them to work together, which was one advantage.

The first drone she aimed at dodged, leaving the shot to be taken by one behind it. Not cleanly, the bolt only took an arm off.

The one that had dodged responded in kind by taking off her plasma caster and a chunk of her skin. She curled up and rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the piercing tail and the jaws of a third attacker. As she skittered across the ground, she took off the next leg with her wrist blades and climbed through the clawing to drove the blades into its neck, severing vital relay systems. Without time to check her success, she jumped to her hind legs and screamed. Echo location revealed her plasma caster in a puddle of acid, and her friends under siege. Most of the flock had focused on her sister.

Sheer size and inherent strength gave her sister an advantage, but only so much in this narrow space. From one side below her crest, Jake was operating a cyborg arm with its gun, somehow, and had shot two, killed none. He was suffering acid burns already, and 921-Y was only doing slightly better.

Kirindi was treated to two new attackers before she could join them, let alone plan anything. Putting all focus on her legs, she leaped up, clawing at the wall to climb higher. They pursued her, but due to weight had more trouble keeping up with her. From here, she noticed their guide with three drones in pursuit. They tried, and failed, at concerning him.

Pushing off the wall, she made two risky leaps to a pipe and a ledge to get closer to him. They were the only ones capable of even leaving her sister's shelter, they had a better shot cooperating.

Their guide zig-zagged further away from her sister; what was he doing? He didn't respond to her call for cooperating, save with an almost amused sense of stubbornness.

One of the drones that had followed her had reached the top of the hall and was scaling the pipes there until it was almost above her. There it dropped. Down below two others drones waited. There was no safe way to do it, so she pushed up and tackled the falling drone in mid air, gaining some leverage on how they collided. Falling was an art she'd mastered in the rain forest well enough; with a quick twist she was on its upper side. It fell right onto the other two, and she leaped back up the wall.

Another leaped at her from behind, she curled her back outward and extended her spikes. When the impact of the claws on her back tore open her shoulder, and the sheer weight behind the arm that got pierced by her spikes broken then off. Had she needed air, it would have been knocked out of her. Pulling herself free, she lost the two spikes in her enemy's arm. The pain she'd caused it gave her a second to turn around, twist her tail around it other arm to pull it away and ram her blades into its chest. This one died at once.

For a few moments, nothing attacked her, as most were occupied with her sister in the middle of the hall. Here she noticed it. Too few bodies, there had been much, much more drones. Instead, there were holes in the floor and a drone who apparently had fallen and snapped it's neck rather clumsily...

The speed with which the acid ate through these floors could work in their favor. Kirindi hadn't realized beforehand that pure hardmeat would have blood so much more corrosive, but now it was obvious what to do.

Her head whipped up at their guide. He fought one on one with a drone, close to her sister who shoved a previous kill into a circle of body parts and skulls. She could afford a little smile when she realized how quickly her sister responded. A new flood of drones threatened to come down the hall soon.

921-Y's gave her a look when her sister started backing into a small hall where she risked getting stuck. The two humans on her back she shook off before folding back her crest.

" _It's alright_ ," she sent to Jake with complimentary image of the plan, and nodded at 921-Y while pointing at the floor. The android and the man understood at the same time. Jake pulled Shadhahvar against the wall with one arm, shooting at the new drones that came in right then.

Kirindi stayed high, but crawled closer to the others by dangling from pipes. Her sister drew back against the wall before pushing herself off, out of the hall and into the air. With a screech of metal and her own voice, she landed in the center of the hall. At its most corroded points, the floor went down a little. Her sister was sorely disappointed with the lack of effect. Placing all her focus on getting this done, she ignored the new enemies. Jake and 921-Y had a small window of shooting at the new drones as her sister raised up and banged down her torso.

The floor sank lower and the creaking of metal supporting too much weight became loud. A drone jumped on her crest and bit down, she noticed but ignored it with disturbing ease. Kirindi hurled herself off the wall and tackled it away. She struggled with impaling it while her sister explored the concept of 'game' by bouncing against the floor until it finally caved.

The floor underneath was burning in acid as well and was now presented with another floor and the same chimera. It started collapsing as well.

The hostile drones were born from humans and hence were not the best climbers. Most of them fell down despite trying to latch onto the hall walls, right along with her sister.

921-Y dealt with the drones that had escaped into corridors, while Jake fired at those that were lifting along with her sister. Kirindi herself fell down and killed her enemy as they hit the floor four levels down by ripping his throat open with her tail.

Her sister was sturdy, but this much impact she felt. Her shriek echoed filled every hall and room it could creep in, deafening the humans for a half a minute. It was a queen's call, disorienting even the hostile drones. They didn't understand what was so familiar yet wrong.

Kirindi recovered first, killing a paralyzed drone that had latched onto her sister's head.

Broken, her sister crawled to her feet. Kirindi quietly urged her to climb back up, which she did with much cracking exoskeleton and bleeding. They'd fallen into a tall hall, but she was long enough that she could reach the ceiling if she stood on her hind legs.

As fast as she could, she hauled herself back into the passage she'd jumped from, leaving the enemy drones that still lived behind. Kirindi took the momentary quiet to look at her sister's injuries, only to find she could do nothing. Some distant instinct urged her to produce something, perhaps a resin, to stop the bleeding of the queen entity. She didn't possess the organ for this, in this one regard she was too human.

Her sister was weak from years of imprisonment, and her exoskeleton not as hard as that of a true hardmeat. The large body started to shudder, and it took a few moments before Kirindi realized the lunges were starting to kick in. Wheezing and coughing, the chimera gasped for air. Being mostly I. Raptus, neither of the sisters needed breath with lungs constantly, but when exhausted the function came in handy. Kirindi was glad she had that at least.

The larger sister uttered a deep moan, pain shooting through her as she moved her wounded limbs and her chest expanded for the first time in years. One might mistake her for being in a fit of rage, but Kirindi knew better. Only pain caused her to cry. Kirindi's fingernails scraped the floor as she crouched down aside of her sister's head. She was helpless, useless to her sister right now.

"Is she alright?" her android friend asked.

Softly, Kirindi shook her head. "She hurts."

"She'll be okay, right?" asked Shadhahvar, hesitantly. "How are we gonna get out without her?"

Jake gave her a hard poke in the ribs.

"Hey!" But she said no more, and a tired silence fell.

Kirindi finally tore her eyes away and looked at the others.

The android no longer looked human, his body covered with splashes of acid, circles of smoke still rising up. In his attempts to protect the humans, as he was programmed to do, he had neglected the secondary self preservation program. Concealment was trivial. Drips of white liquid were behind him, mingled with splatters of red from both humans.

She saw the scene through glimpses of Jake's mind. In the dim blue light of the spare lamps and the occasional electrical sizzle in the hall beyond, they looked miserable and hopeless. Trapped inside this station, the shadows around reminiscent of the void beyond the walls. The man had a bit of a dramatic flair.

921-Y tried to log into cyberspace, but failed miserably. His viruses were running low on defenses by now. The mission had lasted much longer than originally planned. At least the main objective had been acquired. The bomb was planted. Kirindi heard him mutter this once, and though she could not feel emotions or read his mind, she knew he was alive due to small things like that.

"We need do move," the android said, a mechanic, dead tone to his voice.

Jake cleared his throat. "You're right, nine-two. Shadhahvar, stay close to me. Kirindi..."

He lips moved with the words "We come", but no sound came out.

The android was already making his way down the hall. Jake turned to Shadhahvar, shaking her gentle, but she barely responded. If not before, she'd finally understood what danger they were in.

"They'll come...don't worry, the android knows a way out, he has a map, remember?" Taking her by the arm, Jake began leading her away. Jake didn't want to mention the android had lost his modem and thereby the map, and that the map Kirindi had given him earlier had melted away.

Kirindi softly brushed her forehead against her sister's wide corona. "We go now" she said.

Unsteady, her sister pushed herself on her feet, as far as the passage allowed to to stand straight. Going on two legs was still no option. Not that she had the energy for it anyway, but the hall was so small she could not properly position her broken legs underneath her. Her pace was labored and the frosted surrounding made it only worse. Kirindi wanted to support her, but higher reason prevented it : she herself was not in the best of shapes and might have to fight again. She had to be in her best form to defend her sister.

A piercing scream from up ahead nearly sent her back into battle mode, but she calmed when she didn't sense anything new. The only living hardmeat drone on this level was their guide.

Kirindi went ahead and rounded the corner. There, Jake was trying to calm Shadhahvar down. The woman had sunken into a corner, babbling frantically. Their guiding drone stood in a doorway, long head tilted slightly. He was curious at the nonsensical display, enough to forget his own wounds.

"That's our friend, Shadey. Nothing to worry, just another weird friend. He helped us before." Jake repeated the words to her, as the drone remained on a distance.

The android was staring at him too, Kirindi could only guess he wasn't sure what behavior program to run for the creature.

Kirindi herself had only one thing on her mind, getting out.

It took a while before he responded, but then he showed her a sound map, constructed by his own echo and the long dome of his head, added with what his telepathic sense showed him.

"He says... ahead ... several tunnels ... ahead. Elevator, I think," Kirindi said.

921-Y nodded slowly. He tried to check his own data, but found his energy reserves running dangerously low, much due to the fact his main 'stomach', had been ripped out.

For twenty-five minutes they trailed the empty halls, haunted by the shrieks in the far distance growing dimmer. It meant the enemy drones were moving away from the hole, and they were following. Kirindi hoped they wouldn't find a way up.

There indeed was a single wide space moving upward, and it indeed was an elevator. It was perfectly clean, smooth and significantly warmer. No drones had been driven through this room. As 921-Y processed this, he realized that some of his virus friends still had to be active, for as long as Utara did not had a system override code that was needed to drive the drones.

The frosters in the wall were still offline, he speculated. But he couldn't tell for sure. Kirindi liked to believed those she trusted on their word, so she stepped in without hesitation.

"Don't!"

She halted, a few steps into small room.

At that moment, a ray of ice shot free from the wall, right onto her. She screamed, trying to skitter back to the group, but a second ray joined in. Inhaling the frigid air scorched her lungs, she stopped breathing entirely. A normal human would have died already, and her skin started to show cracks.

921-Y pushed Jake back and lunged forward himself, grabbing Kirindi's outstretched hand, trying to pull her back. She seemed heavier than she should be, or maybe it was just that he was lacking a few vital motion functions. His silicon skin was started to show the same cracking patterns as that of Kirindi.

A sudden jerk pulled them both back into the passage. 921-Y tried to let go of Kirindi, but his hands took a while to cooperate. Kirindi whimpered as she slumped to the ground, and 921-Y fell backward, having lost his balance.

The drone loomed over them, his tail covered with eyes. The painful cold eased as Kirindi's internal organs went into overdrive to reheat her, and she managed a smile at the drone.

"I guess none of us will be able to pass that hall," Jake said as half question, half statement. Kirindi didn't like how much despair she felt behind those words, but he was right. Even her sister wouldn't last long in that cold, not in her open wounded condition.

"We can't go on?" Shadhahvar squeaked.

"We can't go on."

"But...why isn't that blaster thing in this hall, why only in that room?"

No one did speak, no one answered. They didn't know. "Why?" Shadhahvar's voice whined.

Behind them, the queen chimera moved. A pale and crimson arm stretched past the humans, softly nudging her little sister. Kirindi didn't move at first, and when she did, her top skin layer sounded eerily crispy.

Uttering a catlike mewl, she stood up with her sister's help. Slivers of skin fell off her back and shoulders, revealing the equally white bony layer underneath.

The slumping android was shivering. Almost as if he was a human, but the reaction was in fact caused by a malfunction in his silicon relais, causing tiny spurts of energy to go through his muscles. He looked more human than her, in part.

"So what now?" Jake asked, kneeling down to try and help the android sit up. The question was directed at Kirindi.

She parted her lips, bit cringed back to the ground in pain again as a piece of her neck skin tore loose. There, she curled to a ball like a small child, biting back the pain as well as she could. She'd need a little longer before her body put itself back in place.

"Don't know..." she whispered.

**· · · · · · ·**


	8. Trace Remnants

**· · · · · · ·** **  
**

Careful, Jake leaned the android against the wall. 921-Y didn't talk anymore; Jake hoped that the reason for that was something mundane like rerouting data stream or something like that. It wouldn't be very much fun to be stuck here without their friendly neighborhood AI. They had reached an elevator, but it didn't open from a distance; Utara slowly returned to activity.

"Now what?" Jake asked.

Kirindi shook her head. "I don't—huh?"

Shadhahvar lunged for the cyborg limb. Clutching it in both arms, she jumped ahead. Odygos tried to grab her leg, but missed her by an inch.

"Don't worry!" Shadhahvar yelled. The drone ran after her, only to be hit full force with the frosters.

Shadhahvar wasn't, though.

"I don't get it," Kirindi said.

"Maybe the station's low on ice and deemed the drone the bigger threat," Jake said. "That or the scanners don't work."

The drone got up and barged after Shadhahvar, and the frosters shot on at once.

"First one it," Jake said somewhere below the shrieking.

Shadhahvar stopped and fumbled with the arm. He knew she'd try to use it to shoot and that he couldn't trust her with unfamiliar weapons. On reflex he darted for her, but the queen chimera's claw grabbed his leg. He smacked face first into the ground as she dragged him.

The drone thrashed around in pain, its tail flaying around. It sunk it he might've been skewered. Not that that made being treated like a rag doll any better.

"~ Jake, I think this is working. What should I shoot? ~" Shadhahvar said, but without sound.

"~ The ice thingies! ~" Kirindi called. "~ Let me help you aim. ~"

Jake caught some of what she pushed at Shadhahvar, it wasn't so much images as sensation and direction. Seamless, Kirindi took Shadhahvar's perception and calculated from it, like she herself stood there. In this at least, Shadhahvar's simply mind was perfect for coordination. They shot it all to smithereens.

The drone slumped down in the middle of the hall and stayed there till the queen chimera stepped by and prodded it to stand up. Jake helped Y-921 walk to the elevator, then held Shadhahvar back from shooting the elevator door.

The android got the doors to open, somehow, and they cramped in with the massive queen chimera.

Aside of the part where they had to sit on a giant mutation's legs and try not get get burned by her blood, the slow ascent of the elevator was oddly comforting. Absurdly normal, compared with the battle they'd walked away from.

What would become of them now? Where would they go? Neither of the girls — they were children, he couldn't get around that when sharing minds — looked in a good state to fight much more. What if the android and his people had other plans? She couldn't read their minds and find out.

Shadhahvar's hand had been caught in the ice, she now held it close and tried not to cry. The detached cyborg arm lay over her lap.

921-Y was probably in the worst shape, like he'd collapsed into himself. He was also the only one he couldn't tell of how he was doing, so he asked, prepared not to get an answer.

"I could be better," the android said without any expression, or even adding tone to this voice. "I needed to reroute some things. Are we ... still up?"

"Yep," Jake said. "Y'know ... I think that drone _distracted_ the system. Like he made it look like he was an animal, but ... the queen chimera didn't pull him and Kirindi knew what was coming. They're smart, but is that the drone too?"

"It was his idea," Kirindi said.

"Or a queen's," 921-Y muttered. He tested the movement of his arm, but otherwise stayed still.

"Something like Kirindi's sister here?"

"Yes," Kirindi said. "I think so, but she's hard to reach."

"Ah," 921-Y said. "Can he guide is to where the other hosts are?"

"He's hurting right now. Wait a bit."

"Kirindi, please ..."

"Wait a bit."

At a level that seemed random to him, the android shut down all his energy and toppled over, Shadhahvar caught him just in time. The elevator stopped, but did not open.

When the android moved again, he said, "Just had to put all my energy in my modem. Some of my viruses are still active, but the best I can do is say the hosts are on this level."

They had to wrench the door open, and Jake had to admit he woefully fell short in strength compared to even Kirindi.

Behind it was another dark hall lit by sparse blue light, though it was much warmer here.

Shadhahvar bounced out, smiling as she whispered, "Heat! Finally!"

Jake rolled his eyes, but managed a grin anyway. Leave it to Shadhahvar to pull off glee in this hellhole.

921-Y needed help getting out before the queen chimera stumbled out, whose patience ran low. Barely had they clear the spot or she burst out, tripped over her shaky feet and scraped her corona against a wall before find level. Shadhahvar nearly got skewered by the tail, but didn't even notice.

Their guide pulled himself out of a messy heap, stood still for a few seconds, then led the way to the impregnation chamber. He'd be born there just a few hours before, right?

"We're not going the quicker way," the android said a few corridors down. "Kirindi ..."

Jake noticed before she answered : a friend was here. Sarah.

They found her huddled in a cornered, covered in blood. Everything Jake noticed of her through Kirindi indicated she'd be sobbing, but her physical form just stared ahead with glazed eyes.

Kirindi tried to mentally prod her, but Sarah barely responded. Jake walked over and softly shook her arm. Now he saw some traces of tears in the weak light.

"Hey, miss, how are you doing? Is the blood yours?"

Kirindi told him no as she crouched before Sarah. She'd lost the full out connection upon finding her sister, who swarmed her senses. Now she needed some effort convincing the queen chimera that Sarah was worth attending to. When the sister relented, her vast mental space helped clean away some of the clutter in Sarah's mind.

The woman let go a deep breath and looked around till her eyes settled on the drone of all people.

"So there you went," she muttered. The drone somehow said yes, but Jake couldn't tell how. Sound? Knowledge? Memory?

The queen chimera dropped her face from below her corona, so Sarah and her could lock eyes.

"You came for her, didn't you, Kirindi?"

It hadn't been a real question, just the obvious.

"And you're an android," she said to 921-Y. "God, you've been through worse than I just did, right?"

Jake was about to object, but realized she probably could measure pain now that minds were linked. He wasn't sure whether he liked the attitude that caused.

When she pulled herself to her feet, she ignored something that Jake couldn't decipher, and had no business to either. Kirindi poured around private information as she deemed logical, but that didn't mean he got a license to pry.

"You're here for the other people. Follow me."

He still had the option of asking, through. That should've been his first impulse.

"Who's the blood from?"

"Scientists." She paced away from them, the drone right on her track, letting her lean on him.

"Yeah, but ..."

"I got ideas, first to join Kirindi, but I couldn't get to the lower levels. I had to go free people, but ..."

"~ You are of no world. We will be of all worlds. Have trust. You do not need the emotion of fear. ~"

It seemed to comfort Sarah, but left Jake uneasy. One didn't just advocate the loss of useful emotions, right?

According to both Kirindi and the drone, their instincts were superior to emotions.

The door to the impregnation center's control room had been burned away, the drone could pull it off its hinges with ease. Bone splinters and blood covered the room; these newborn had eaten whatever they could find. This wasn't typical xenomorph behavior, right?

Even Kirindi was curious, but not curious enough to dwell on it for long. The drone claimed they'd been bored and had seen enemies still, and the directions of their mother were a little vague. That was good enough for Kirindi.

Jake helped 921-Y connect to a port in the corner, while the others went into the hall to load the sleeping hosts onto a carrier — one meant to dispose of the corpses later.

A sound behind him drew his attention. Turning, he saw an orincubix.

The spidery thing skittered across the floor and slipped into the hall, ignoring Jake altogether. Kirindi pushed a very strong sense into his mind he was to remain quiet. She wanted to have this one for herself.

"Jake?" the android asked.

They'd use a dinosaur for host, she told Jake. This did ease his worry, but ... a dinosaur?

"Eh, yes. Sorry, got distracted. It's very ... in here ... I could have ended up like one of these people. It just sunk in."

Once all containers were on the carts, a silent procession upwards began.

They encountered nobody else. After crawling absurdly spacious ventilation shafts, cutting powerlines, dodging cyborg, fighting monsters and having his world views crashed in the span of a few hours, this seemed eerily peaceful. He'd half expected to have a dramatic show down with the leader of the station or something, or fight some final monster, yet there weren't even any of the drones that had been born from those scientists around.

921-Y said something about conflict between the main system Utara, which wanted to do a safety lockdown, and Nuitar, a secondary system that wanted to keep the queen chimera around at all costs. It didn't make sense to Jake, what exactly even threatened Utara now?

Not that he complained about the lack of hostility. Whatever went down in cyberspace allowed them the peace to load the other humans into the Philidon's cargo space.

The queen chimera got her first life experience away from mud and science halls. To her, even the simple carpeted hall they led her into was positively novel, and since it was her way out she slung an absurd amount of happiness at carpets. He might've laughed, and Shadhahvar actually did.

The simple happiness enraptured Kirindi and she wanted to share it, which was when she noticed Sarah hadn't come onto the ship.

She was still on the dock.

Jake set 921-Y down in the pilot cabin and ran for the entrance.

The drone had placed himself between Sarah and the ship. Kirindi had arrived a moment before Jake and already pleaded that he let her pass. When she tried to pass him, he threw her back with his tail.

Sarah didn't make a single move, aside of shivering. Jake could see fear in her eyes and feel it through Kirindi. Sarah wanted to know why, but a clear answer didn't come.

She'd walked off on some impulse, and almost back into the station on some distant sense she had to get Jonah, but had realized it didn't make sense. Away from rescue? Why? What did they want?

Why, why, why, over again, more to herself and whatever distant entity compelled her. Kirindi asked them same, but hers was directed at the drone.

The drone only knew to follow the order that this human should not board the ship. She was to stay here.

Kirindi tried darting past him again, but he reared and grabbed her under an arm. Keeping his head in Sarah's direction, he walked backward into the ship and took Kirindi along.

Sarah took a step forward, and without hesitation he spit at her. It landed right between her feet, the floor instantly melting away.

With a gasp she stepped back. The drone raised his head a little, the silent promise he might hit her legs the next time, and a little regret. _Regret!_

If Jake had had a weapon, he might've shot the drone, but Shadhahvar had taken the cyborg inside and refused to come out. Of all times, now she was scared to fight a monster.

A door opened beyond and two more cyborg stepped through, weapons locked at once. Sarah turned just in time to see the array of bullets that hit her.

This time, the blood soaked her clothes was her own. She fell down and that was it, her mind vanished.

Kirindi panicked and tried to bite the drone's arm, but found it ineffective. While holding her down, the drone approached the door's controls and typed the code to shut them.

Jake's dodged behind a wall until the door blocked the bullets, and there he stayed, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Kirindi wailed in a soft, kittenlike voice. Her brow was furrowed down and her mouth wide open, revealing her lethal fangs, but she didn't attack the drone anymore. He gave her no explanation, no reason.

Why leave her, when not the others?

"Kirindi, what did just happen?" Jake finally asked.

No answer came. Like it as nothing, the drone wandered off to inspect the for him novel ship. Kirindi and Jake stayed on their spot, drained.

Though the girl wanted to cry, she couldn't. Jake had long ago learned not to cry in his profession, but now he did on her behalf.

**· · · · · · ·** **  
**

The ship took off and Jonah didn't really care to stop them. Who cared? Oh, some, but not him.

Jonah peered down at the dock, at a dead Sarah. The memory of past life had not died with her, even if he didn't feel anything anymore.

Sorrow turned out to have a component beyond emotion, though.

**· · · · · · ·** **  
**


	9. Twisting Echoes

**· · · · · · ·**

_Time 2577, December 13_

_Location : Somewhere in hyperspace_

_**· · · · · · ·** _

Jake got a few delightful hours of anxiety and unanswered questions. The android had only given a warning that Shadhahvar shouldn't touch anything important looking before disappearing and muttered something about engines. Kirindi had glomped him quickly before gathering some bandage — that better be acid proof — to tend to her sister in cargo bay.

What little he did know was meager. He was in a cheap adventure story where he had escaped horrific death at the hands of mad scientists performing illegal experiments on alien lifeforms in a secret laboratory. There was no way to describe this without cliché adjectives. He decided it was a happier occupation to describe cliché adjectives to whatever the hell it was that was happening outside of the window. Seriously, aurora like flashes and no tacky stars or shiny nebulas? Most disappointing cruise view ever.

Sadly, that also the only source of light, so he couldn't exactly go catch up on the news or follow a fancy course. 921-Y had rerouted most of the second generator to some sort of alternate engine, and power was on reserve otherwise as much as possible. At least the heating was on in this area and he'd been able to get a cup of coffee.

Or more precisely, he was on his second pot. The idea of falling asleep had obtained an eerie tint.

He must have been drifting away anyway, because when he heard something too close by, he startled awake. The pot clattered on the ground. Instinctively he wanted to swear at Shadhahvar for having woken him, but that hope was lost. It wasn't Shadhahvar who stood before his table.

The alien drone softly swayed its tail as it loomed over him, no details visible as it was only outlined by the bizarre lights. Jake felt like a mouse, the cat before him annoyed that he didn't run and play. What would it do, without the chimera girls around?

Something dropped on the table before him, and the drone lowered itself on its haunches. Now he had light again, Jake saw it was a candle and a box of matches.

Well ... that was surprisingly useful and non-lethal.

And then quick as a breeze, the drone had shot off into the dark.

Having nothing better to do, Jake lit the candle, and after a decently sized hesitation — there was drool all over the candle, he realized too late — he followed the drone.

Like a rat it skittered ahead of him. Jake had the feeling it could be just as quiet, but that it was making noise so he could follow. In the few glimpses he saw of it in the candlelight, he saw the solid hide slick with secretion, which gave him a lurching disgust. He realized he would have felt like this from the moment he laid eyes on these things, but any sickening sensation had been cancelled out by the mental touch of Kirindi. She didn't think they were disgusting, so neither did he. With her attention to the hivemind now mostly on her sister, Jake became a little more like himself again. This disturbed him increasingly, but that feeling never reached heights.

He stumbled over something. Looking down, his foot had caught in a heap of clothing. A little further away lay an open suitcase.

The drone hissed impatiently and Jake quickly went on. Their destination followed the trail of looted luggage to the room Shadhahvar had been assigned.

The door was closed and the drone was trying to type an access code with its long fingers. The code kept being rejected, and he tried new variants. When Jake wondered what was going on, the answer was slung into his mind : Shadhahvar sucked at telepathy and didn't manage to transfer the entrance code.

Jake walked up and typed the correct one.

The door itself may have opened silently, but on cue screaming burst from the room. Shadhahvar had shot up from the bed and stared wide eyed at the drone. Her flailing hand had knocked a candle over and the sheets were catching fire. Instinctively Jake dove for the bed and tore off the sheets, causing Shadhahvar to tumble to the ground.

Bathroom, bathroom ... he spotted the door, shoved it open and threw the sheets in the shower. Water was fortunately not off here. He stood there for a bit, watching the flames die off.

"Jake, make him stop that," Shadhahvar whimpered behind him.

Curious, Jake returned to the main room. The scene hadn't changed much, Shadhahvar still sat on the ground and the drone stood in the door as motionless as a statue.

"What? He's not doing anything."

"That..." she raised her hand and waved at the drone's head. "...the echo thingy. In my head."

"Echo...thingy?" asked Jake, and it took a second before he understood. "Shadhahvar, try to listen. What is he saying?"

"Saying? Nah, its just this really annoying sound."

"Hm-hm. Shadey, come on, I want to test something." He held out a hand to help her stand.

"Wha? Where to? I don't want to leave, I'm fine here. The rest of the ship freaks me out, it has no lights."

"No, we're not going anywhere. Do you know what a hive mind is?"

"No..." said the woman, finally turning her eyes towards him. "What does it want from me?"

"Just relax, I read about this once," he said. It wasn't like her brain could be damaged much more.

**· · · · · · ·** **  
**

Kirindi had a few memories that were not quite her own, yet they had never belonged to another body. Shioying had liked to make dolls from rags she found, and Kirindi had continued this ritual. The things she made dolls off though were quite different. Shioying had made friends from her imagination and her stories, which Kirindi felt no need to. She had her hive, so she made those in her hive, and the dolls were no less fantastical for this reason.

She had always felt she had a sister alive somewhere, but hadn't known what she had looked like until today, so she hadn't been able to make her a doll. It was important her big sister was initiated as quickly as possible, now she knew how important the dolls were. Couldn't feel left out.

The doll was made off towel, for now, and not as nice as it could have been if she had material straight from the market. However, it would do the trick. She would upgrade it later. With a sense of pride she presented it to her sister, but she couldn't clearly see the results. Carefully, Kirindi placed it in her large hand. With thick, slow fingers, her sister felt the gift. It confused her a great deal, that Kirindi would place so much meaning behind the object, but at the same time, she understood the meaning existed.

Part of that meaning was diversion. Her sister had a single track mind and now the joy of finding kin turned to the overpowering acceptance of the natural state, her mind turned back to her pain. Enigma II had taken a heavy toll on her and she was not healing as quickly as Kirindi knew she should be able to.

Her sister opened her mouth, a rasping, hiccuping sound coming out softly. One might have mistaken it for laughter, but Kirindi knew her sister to be attempting a word. Her sister didn't communicate in clear words, but in feelings and memories in order to indicate things. The traitor Jonah had never taught her sufficiently.

Kirindi tried to decipher it, but instead of her sister she became aware of another mental sound. It had no physical origin, existing only in her brain and didn't last long. She decided to ignore it, but the sound returned with persistence. It faded again and then returned in intervals. Kirindi had patience, but her sister less so. _She_ wanted it to stop now.

Kirindi leaned her forehead against that of her sister briefly, intoning her to calmness, then darted out of the cargo bay. Leaving her sister now felt wrong, she was so weak, but Kirindi couldn't do much else for her than make that sound stop.

As the distance increased and she sharpened her focus, she found the source. Shadhahvar's room.

The door was open, the walls holding more movement through flickering candles than from the creatures in the room.

Shadhavar was covered in weird colors on the bed and had her eyes closed while making a strange throaty noise. That was perfectly normal, according to Jake's memory she always slept like that. Jake was aside of her, failing to end his boredom by reading one of Shadhahvar's magazines. Aside of the bed, the drone was reading a digital book about philosophy.

Huh. Kirindi lived near an interstellar market, she had seen her share of diversity. A kainde amedha showing that kind of interest was still too much out there.

"Well, that took its time," Jake said.

Kirindi tore her eyes from the drone and tilted her head slightly. "What did?"

"Your response. He's been producing some sort of hive calling for a while now. It actually lulled Shadey to sleep, we used her to provide the voice."

"We only heard it a few minutes ago," Kirindi said. "It's very annoying."

Jake sighed. "I guess it needs fine-tuning? Anyway, now you're here-"

"He needs to stop doing it," Kirindi hissed at the unresponsive drone. Mentally, she assaulted the drone. Within seconds, Shadhahvar woke with a start, the drone launched itself at Kirindi. She had not expected this sudden hostility and scrambled out the door. The drone threw her to the ground with a loud shriek, making it known it did not appreciate anyone but its queen to give it a command.

An ordinary drone would have continued to solidify this statement by tearing her apart, but this one just retreated back into the room.

"Holy crap, what just happened?" Jake asked, barely audible below Shadhahvar's screaming.

Kirindi mentally collected herself and stood back up. She became away of Jake's thoughts, he was annoyed this hadn't gone as intended ...

What had been the intention, she silently asked.

He appeared in the doorway and smiled apologetically, his new fear ebbing away under pressure from the drone's voice in the hivemind.

"You know, we need to talk. He's been telling us a lot of things, if you could just listen for a while..."

It did make sense. In their current little hivemind, the drone was the only other naturally skilled user, and she had been more occupied with her sister than anything. It troubled her that she had competition with agency of its own, when a proper hive only had one leader.

However, her personal leader was not here, and she could not easily tell him what had transpired and expect only advice. He's be more than a little angry to learn that there were actual kainde amedha in their hivemind now. Her best bet was to negotiate, as unnatural as that was. If it was using Jake as proxy, then fine. Jake was more inclined towards her kind of hivemind than he was to that of the drone, she could listen to him and not expect trouble.

She stepped back into the room and sat down on the bed. Shadhahvar had stopped screaming, but her mind still was an unpleasant jumble, even more so since the drone found it easiest to use her as modem. Jake took a seat in one of the chairs and needed a moment to orient his thoughts.

"Sarah was tagged. After you left her, some guy named Jonah returned to his room and placed a chip in her stomach, wanting to make sure his colleagues didn't take her anywhere where he couldn't find her," Jake said. Accompanying this were the disorientating memories of the drone and Sarah's experiences, filtered through the mind of a creature that had no eyes. It was hard to discern, but the information Jake said wasn't in those memories. She let her distrust be known to Jake, expecting further explanation.

"His mother seems to have seen it and told him. Now, please listen, there is more."

**· · · · · · ·** **  
**

921-Y was a highly advanced android with full capability to adapt to new information and integrate it in ways superior to humans. Confusion was not an emotion he needed beyond simulation, so when his data reached a difficult spot, he just patiently waited it out. He did not often get in this state, and now that he was, he found that his programming for patience was lacking.

A few minutes ago, Jake had dropped by and told him of new developments. Apparently, he and Shadhahvar had persuaded Kirindi to fully accept the drone into her hivemind and she had learned very unsettling things from this.

He continued working in a mostly aimless attempt to fix optimizize the state of the ship while muling it over in his minds. The facts were simple but had little place with the mass of other facts. Internecivus Raptus were not supposed to be more than highly intelligent animals. They didn't do things like helping people escape. While record existed of the Queen Mother recruiting humans into her hivemind for purposes, that situation hardly applied here in a way that could explain the drone's behavior. It had not attempted to make them free it's queen, yet according to Jake, this queen existed. She was alive and well on Enigma II, which coincided with the data he had : the drone's mother was in fact preserved, if in cryogenic sleep.

Repeat, cryogenic sleep. She shouldn't be able to do things like telepathically finding out about transmitters in human bodies that might betray her escaping drone in the future. She shouldn't be able to comprehend that idea of transmitters at all, since according to the files she'd been plucked from a wild world and had no previous contact with human technology.

All xenomorphs had advanced sentience, but sapience was another thing. They appeared to have a genetic block against this kind of evolution, otherwise they would inherit matching intelligence from their host bodies. They used their acid blood, but didn't use guns. They set traps, they didn't build bombs. They telepathically invaded dreams, but didn't read minds and learn the code to cargo bay doors.

So if no ordinary xenomorph drone, what did he had aboard here?

Whatever it was, he couldn't write about it in his rapport.

If a sapient xenomorph queen existed who was so sharp, despite cryogenic sleep, that she could figure out the code of a door and pass it to her drone, then she would know about a lot more, like the bomb he had placed. The one that would kill her if it went off. That would give her proper impetus to tell the humans about it, something that would only be hindered by the humans using drugs and implants.

Perhaps that could explain why the queen had ordered her drone to help. She would know that the Philidon was a destruct mechanism installed, in case the mission failed and tracks needed to be covered. Kirindi knew this, and she did not eagerly keep secrets in her hivemind.

If he presumed that Kirindi's knowledge was available to that queen, then said queen would know she benefited from her drone helping them. It would extend her life, in essence. Sarah being declined escape would prevent the drone being tracked to Kiyasumeni, and thus Enigma II wouldn't put a fire below those who had planted the bomb, prompting them to detonate sooner.

If the queen could plan to this advanced level, she probably also had a plan to escape from Enigma II. All going on this hypothetical intelligence, it would suit such a plan to have Auton allies. The Auton would not easily ally with a xenomorph, off course, but they already were allied with Kirindi and she now seemed to trust the drone, if Jake's words were anything to go by.

Typical. Off course the simple humans and the partial xenomorph would now ascribe trustworthiness to the drone. Honesty had a tendency to inspire this in natural creatures, which was a social construct rather than a feat of logic. True, an often useful social construct, but ultimately honesty didn't mean much. The honest could still deceive and harm in other ways. Auton were more cautious with giving trust.

Here it was that he ran into a personal glitch. His duty was to be honest to his superiors, but the knowledge of their response hampered this inclination. He knew as much as they would know the threat of a sapient xenomorph queen. Their lack of sapience was the one thing that prevented the xenomorph from being the dominant species in the galaxy. Knowing a queen existed with sapience would be a good reason to detonate the bomb ahead of schedule.

And yet they already had xenomorph on their side, if indirectly. Despite her appearances, Kirindi had the silicones and exoskeleton of a xenomorph, and the single track hivemind that belonged to it. Wouldn't it be interesting if the silicone Auton could ally with the silicone xenomorph?

Anchored to the controls of the ship as he was, he couldn't go to the cargo bay of the ship to see what was going on there, but an audio channels was open. A while ago, Kirindi had returned there together with Shadhahvar and the drone, and now Jake had joined them.

Sometimes, he heard them laugh.

How much would it harm for him to gather more information about this situation before telling? Hadn't he been equipped with personality for such decisions?

Dishonesty was an option right now. It was ironic he would choose it to be able to find out how reliable mortal trust was.

**· · · · · · ·** **  
**

When Kirindi handed him a clumsily made rag doll in his image, Jake had initially thought it was some sort of joke. Perhaps it was the stitchy grin that inspired that idea, but through the creeping knowledge of the hivemind, Jake became aware of Kirindi's offended response. For her, this was a more potent social ritual than anything else, perhaps the only one she believed in. How does one apologize telepathically?

"Wow, you're really good at this, Kiri!" said Shadhahvar, peeking over Jake's shoulder. "That is so Jake!"

With absurd quickness, Kirindi's sour mood vanished. She smiled at Shadhahvar and grabbed cloth for the next doll. Her sister's massive head hovered above her, occasionally making grunting noises as Kirindi worked.

Shadhahvar ran off again, scourging through the cargo pay in the hopes of finding a button that responded. Considering she wasn't whining out of boredom, Jake guessed the hivemind was in full swing. He himself was pleasantly calm and had no qualms about just sitting here and watching the two sisters. This calmness lasted until Kirindi had finished Shadhahvar's doll, and the subject of dollification came to see.

"I don't have brown hair! Its black when I paint it and auburn when I don't! And my eyes aren't just blue, they are sky azure! You got sky azure paint right there! And my breasts aren't this small either! And the clothes are-ouch!" She rubbed her head where Jake had janked on her hair.

Kirindi was strangely enough less offended at this response. He didn't understand, but apparently he communicated that poorly or she wasn't interested in explaining. There was a distinct sense of _not important_. Kirindi didn't seem like the person to question why she was the way she was.

At this, her dark eyes suddenly looked up.

"I know myself well enough. Maybe you should question yourself, for I merely responded to you and to her on base of what I knew of you."

She didn't wait for a response and turned all her attention to the next doll, which would be the drone.

Wanting to rid of the uncomfortable feeling he was left with, Jake asked, ""So...how do you name him?"

With a determined shake of her head, she said, "I don't do naming. I never do naming. Parents only do naming. I am not parent."

"Oh ... that again, I remember now. So, this guy, Kargaate, he's your dad?" Jake was puzzled, 921-Y talked about Kirindi as a chimera : something that was constructed, so perhaps it wasn't her real father and...

A loud beep from a nearby intercom sounded as the screen flicked on.

"You'll have to excuse me for listening. Kirindi, you cannot tell Karga'te about this drone, or anyone else for that matter," the android said.

Kirindi looked up with surprise, then her face turn to sadness. "I dislike to lie to him."

"You lied in order to get on this mission."

"No, I just didn't tell where I was going or for how long."

"Listen, none of you can tell anything about this creature. I want you to come up in a while and we will discuss what we will tell my superiors."

Kirindi frowned. "You want to hide him, why?"

"Do you agree that he should live?"

"Yes," Kirindi said without hesitation, while Jake was just starting to wonder what was best. "He will stay nameless then."

Jake was pretty sure that was a very annoyed android. "Kirindi, for practical purposes I will refer to the drone as Odygos. What I'm about to do to my memory files will require designations.

"Does this guy have some sort of allergy against explaining things when it's time for that?" Jake asked.

Shadhahvar scratched her head, then reached a conclusion. "No, that's a trick question! Androids cannot have allergies!"

"Let's just go." He stood up and pulled Shadhahvar along, but Kirindi just continued with the doll.

Odygos. She had decided to accept the name on the rationale that since the android took a protective role, he could be considered a parent.

Jake lingered in the doorway, forgotten by Shadhahvar as she ran ahead.

"Hey, Kirindi, what will happen if your father finds out?"

She looked up again, this time there was pain on her face.

"The first thing he asked of me was that I do not become like the kainde amedha. He won't understand that this drone doesn't mean I'm not growing a hive."

"But you're not starting a hive. It's just one drone and he doesn't even obey you."

There wasn't just one drone, she let him know. There would be more. There was a plan. He'd been told the details, but lacked the instinct to understand the broad strokes, he had no sense to recognize the call of a queen. It was like seeing the waves on the surface of the ocean only, while these creature before him could feel the force that drove the waters.

Kirindi half stood to brush her forehead against her sister's, they came to a decision. At the same time, the drone — Odygos stood up and approached a nearby cryotube, opening it.

Out came a single orincubix, slithering across the floor towards the queen chimera. Kirindi bent down and let it walk across her arm, up to her shoulders. It seemed for a moment as if it would latch onto her face, but then lost interest in her. Jumping from Kirindi to her sister, the orincubix latched onto the large chimera's face, though this was a lot harder than with a small human face. It only stayed there for a moment, just long enough for Jake to become worried at this strange event.

When it let go again and returned to Odygos, Kirindi smiled. "It's going to be alright. My sister's been given help, to become more stable now."

"It didn't implant anything?"

"Just released nanotech. The sort that probes the body and figures out what's useful. With children from his Mother, this process can do more."

She stood up and walked up to him. "Come, 921-Y waits."

**· · · · · · ·** **  
**

She hadn't refused to talk to the drone, nor had her opinion changed because she had heard the real reason Sarah had not been allowed on board.

In fact, she and her sister had heard the _real_ real reason, unlike Shadhahvar and Jake. It wasn't a lie that Sarah was a liability, but it was more true that she was useful elsewhere. Nothing about this all had changed her opinion of the drone. He and his mother were kainde amedha, and they sacrifices as they saw fit.

The way they sacrificed was different, however, and that they understood the consequences meant something. Odygos had apologizied, for as far as a kainde amedha could do this. It meant nothing to him and he possessed no regret, but the gesture was understood. If anything, the fact he mentally had apologized for doing that to Sarah meant that he could learn what it really meant.

This meant he was something like her after all, not just a monster.

**· · · · · · ·**


	10. Burning Out

**· · · · · · ·**

_2577,_ _December 14._

_Location : Planet Kyasumeni_

**· · · · · · ·**

Having little else to do to stave off the pain of his busted vitals, 921-Y leaned against the window and tried to enjoy the scenery. He knew that to many a human, it would be beautiful : a soft breeze plucked flares of mist from the rainforest and untainted atmosphere allowed all starlight, creating a paradise that Earth once had been. He couldn't find the appeal, though. He wasn't advanced enough, despite the cognitive upgrades the Auton had performed on him.

He could enjoy symmetry, though. He failed the same cognitive liberty, and this planet had failed to be the monument humans had meant it as. Or rather, a commercial stunt meant to look like grand progress. At first it had been a success, using certain plants from the Mesozoic Era of Earth proved to be perfect on the volcano ridden planet, transforming it from rough dead land into teeming wilderness in little time.

Plants require wildlife to maintain it though, so they put down the right wildlife ... as close as they could get. The InGen products were chimeras engineered as attractions, and not quite typical animals. They'd made the planet useless, and when the Big Deletions happened nary manageable. It'd been forgotten by the public, and what few of the government knew about it had no interest. On paper, it'd been sold to an alien species of sentient worms and it was off their hands.

The Auton that had been in hiding had absolutely no objections with that, since said worms were more interested in hiring them as janitors than in wiping them out. And to him, joining the Auton had been a similar case of convenience. They needed someone with a compatible modem system.

A long dinosaur neck raised over the canopy when the ship descended into the jungle, where its cloak flickered off. The animal startled, and for a moment they looked in each other's eyes. He might've called it a great beast, but they were in the shadow of a gigantic plateau. Knowing what was inside didn't help any attempt to be impressed with the complexity of life.

The rock wall ahead opened up, letting the ship pass. The hangar was dark still, but lights flickered on in the distance and outlined the robotic arms that reached for the ship. These pulled the vessel smoothly into a hanging dock, aside of the five other Auton vessels.

In utter silence, the top hatch opened and a few familiar Auton dropped into the cockpit.

"If not the inner doors, can we at least get some lights in here?" Persephone called.

"It'll take a while." Someone tossed in a few lamps instead. Persephone took one and leaned in on Y-921.

"You look terrible," she said. "I take it did not go perfect."

He shook his head. "Not perfect in execution, but if we count the goals, it was."

A vibrant smile broke on her lively brown face, more than he could ever manage. She pulled him onto a chair and checked for his vitals, speaking all the while.

"The hosts, chimera and bomb? Excellent. How's the chimera behaving?"

"She's like Kirindi, completely docile unless you attack her. She's helped protect us, though ... she's kinda big and bleeding, so don't bump into her."

"No problem. Mitt, Aulos, go fetch the tubes and let the others know the new chimera won't be a problem. Acrariel, your modem's busted, but I think we can salvage your new memories down at the mainframe."

Shit. They'd find out about the drone.

"Is something the matter?"

"Eh, yes. I remember I had something else to stored. Two humans remained awake, they escaped together with us. They're still awake."

"That's all? Don't worry about that, the whole don't let humans walk free is a guideline, not a law."

She helped him walked to the hatch and held him up, where another pulled him out.

They sat him down carefully, and he got a good look at the scorch marks on the ship. Wormhole technology didn't work as well with their own machines as they did with the owners. The metal had warped and melded together, giving him the answer as to why nobody had come through the door.

To the side of the vessel, a group of Auton had brought a machine to melt open the hatch. Said machine was on their one big hovercraft, and the others ones had all been occupied. Some had been rented out, and Anudjan with his assistants had taken the other two because the city supervisor had called in for fresh negotiations. That didn't sound good. The supervisor and his kin were telepathic, they might have known what was coming.

When the ramp finally fell, the workers cheered, but that stopped when _she_ stepped ahead.

All the Auton backed off. Persephone's took a step back, almost like afraid. Maybe she could really feel that. "You brought a queen here."

The security forces raised their weapons while the others backed away, allowing them to form a line around the perceived threat.

"Don't attack her, please. I checked her files, she cannot breed, doesn't build hives and doesn't drive people insane unless told to. The man she's been attached to before isn't her commander anymore, Kirindi now is."

Persephone stayed silent, and the guards waited for her command.

The queen chimera dropped her face from below her corona and looked around. In the weak morning light, all faces were ghastly like hers.

"She can kill us all, but she won't," Y-921 said. "She's no more a xenomorph than we are humans."

When she took her first step, she slipped off the ramp. All her weight collapsed against the dock, which left her screaming. New scraps let her acid blood out and the Auton swarmed away to avoid the splatters.

Kirindi shot from the ship, all concern for her sister. As well as her small frame could, she helped her sister push herself back on her feet.

The human who stepped out next was rather mundane compared to them, and had more eyes for the synthetics than for chimeras.

"Woah, these are all Auton?" he asked. He took a few steps down the ramp and spotted Y-921 on top of the ship. "Damn, man. I thought you were a small rebel group. There here looks pretty big for eh ... a peace operation."

"What of it?" Persephone asked, her voice sharp in contrast to the gentle tone from before.

Jake held up his hands, apologetic. "Didn't mean to imply anything ... oh, who am I kidding. You guys planted a bomb. Yeah, this looks pretty iffy. What are you gonna do with those girls?"

Oh, right. Human attachments. Persephone softened a little at that last part.

"They are free to go," she said. "However, you and the other humans have to stay. For now."

She ordered the machine off the hovercraft and claimed it to transport Y-921. She also gave orders to break out one of the supersized hovercrafts that only fit through the wide halls, they had to get the queen chimera off the dock as soon as possible. A few walls might have to be broken down to get her into the cargo hall, where she could bleed on the rock and be treated safely.

The human hosts would be checked up on and operated if necessary, preferably on the other end of the base, far from the queen chimera.

These orders given, Persephone put Y-921, Jake and Shadhahvar on a hovercraft and flew them to the headquarters. Jake had spent most of his time keeping Shadhahvar from touching things, but Persephone handed her a phone that kept her busy.

Now he had a moment to talk, he asked, "Who's the he that everyone's so nervous about? The guy that adopted Kirindi?"

"Yes. He didn't exactly agree to Kirindi going on this mission, but we talked her into it on verbal technicalities. She doesn't like to disobey him, but he said they wouldn't go, not that she alone wouldn't go. And, well, she wanted her sister at her side. We could use her help on this, so ... he's an asshole, but I get his trepidation on bringing in her sister," Persephone said, not even veiling her disgusted tone. "Kirindi might look cute, but below that skin she's all xenomorph. He's not the only one anxious on what might happen if the monster becomes dominant."

"She's all ... really? Huh. There have been some fools who thought they could tame xenos by mixing in other species, but that didn't work," Jake said. "So this guy tamed her? Something?"

"Raised her. Maybe that's the difference. It certainly is for the people who own this place. They'd never allow a full out xenomorph here, but they tolerate her because of how she thinks ... for now. Let's hope that lasts."

It wouldn't, once they knew Odygos. They hadn't really thought this through, not far enough.

Erasing his memory wasn't as easy as emptying a folder, if he purged everything he'd have to go on standby, and he'd been too damaged to do that properly. He ran on reserves, he'd have to ... oh well. He didn't have anything other useful to do anyway. Maybe he'd come out different once rebooted.

He looked for excuses, and found one easily : the dense woman that sat right behind him, with Jake not paying enough attention as he talked to Persephone.

Absentminded, she kicked her legs against the seat as she focused on playing some game. "Would you mind not doing that?"

"Huh? What?" When she looked up, she missed her next turn. "Aww, now I lost!"

She kicked the chair hard. Not hard enough to cause real damage, but he jerked forward anyway. In the motion, he overloaded his memory space, burning it to a crisp.

His eyes flickered, followed by nothing.

When he opened his eyes, there was ... a cave? A Middle Eastern woman leaned over him, presumably a synthetic if the white hair was an indication. This was not one of the people in his database ... why was his database empty?

"There, better. Acrariel, what happened?"

"What happened?" he asked. "You tell me ... where am I?"

"Dammit, Shadhahvar!"

**· · · · · · ·**

"~ Odygos, why are you hurt? Will it be a problem? ~"

The concept of names was strange to him, pointless but now relevant because the sisters kept using it for him.

He should be a one body unit, not an individual. Maybe they'd call future drones Odygos as well? No, they said, because those would not be guides.

"~Odygos!~"

This time she didn't add other words, just concepts and feelings : curiosity at his state, and concern.

He gave them the basics of being outside, along with the orincubix whole. Mostly. To avoid detection as the vessel entered the plateau's space, he had lifted along outside the vessel and thrown himself off. The landing had been rough. That was all. They could stop asking and sending those weird feelings now. He couldn't do anything with the latter.

He could use directions, though. The orincubix contained the embryo for the warrior to guard the two sisters. It needed the best host available.

Kirindi worried about another secret, but she was a little excited too, and so she sent him a visual and a concept of the dinosaurs she liked best.

It wasn't about her liking, but since the reason she liked them made them suitable, he obliged.

**· · · · · · ·**

Being questioned by authorities was a staple in Jake's life, though it usually wasn't done by his doctor. He had practice leaving out fine details, but the typical derailment tactics didn't really work on synthetics and their logical minds. So, he took to implying things were fuzzy due to dalnauri.

"Like, this stuff kept me awake despite whatever they used to put us under. I don't know what else it does or how it interacts with ... look, I don't know. It was dark a lot."

The gynoid nodded in expert knowing doctor style; she'd definitely been made for this.

"How is Kirindi and her sister now?" said Jake, trying to shift the subject of conversation.

"We don't know yet," the doctor said.

"Still in treatment?"

"Sir, are you hiding something? See, you are held by the Auton, enemy of the Nations, and not once did you ask for your own fate."

Crap. She held his wrist and would notice his increase in heartrate if he lied.

Shadhahvar leaned around the corner and said, "I can hear you, buddy! You stole my dalnauri and now he doesn't want to admit he can't handle the strong stuff."

The gynoid gave her a flat look. "Do you have any samples of this dalnauri for me to test?"

Shadhahvar pouted and shook her head.

The doctor trying to tend to her stepped around the corner and said, "Whatever it is, it's messing up the blood samples. How's yours going?"

"I haven't gotten to the samples yet, he has several internal bleedings. I meant to tend t—"

A deafening crash accompanied a rain of splinters. Jake ducked on reflex.

When he looked up, it was right at the metal bar that pinned his doctor to the wall.

The opposite window had been smashed, but nothing moved behind it. Careful, Jake stood up, ready to dive.

The other Auton didn't have a sense for safety and ran to his companion. One hand against her shoulder to keep her from falling forward, he pulled out the metal rod.

A human would have died from being impaled one side to another, but she managed to stand, albeit in clear pain.

"What _was_ that?" Shadhahvar asked.

"Kirindi's adoptive father came by, I believe," said the gynoid as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "He is predictably in a foul mood. Don't mind it."

Jake's mouth dropped a little. "Don't mind it? If you had been a real human, you would have been dead!"

The doctor raised his hand in a soothing matter. "He knows we are synthetics and—"

"I can't believe a man like that raised someone like Kirindi! Piercing random people to _vent_ is not normal behavior!"

"He doesn't think we're people."

Down the hall, someone screamed.

"Give me a weapon and I'll deal with it. Trust me, I'm trained for this kind of thing."

"Trust us when we say you're not," the other doctor said.

"Never mind," he said through gritted teeth. Picked up the rod, he went for the door. Careful, Jake opened the door and peered out with on eye, but another far cry told him the enemy was further away.

"Don't go after him! This is too scary!" Shadhahvar whispered. "You won't get paid for this, Jake!"

"Then you can stay here." To make sure she did, he closed the door and wrenched it shut with a nearby chair.

**· · · · · · ·**

Anudjan made his way down the corridor to where he was told the yautja had gone. Karga'te attacked anyone on the way, so when he opened the door to the corridor where he'd passed he prepared for blades through the gut.

Instead, he collided with a human who burst from the medic's room. Anudjan stumbled aside.

"Sorry," the man said, hands out to steady him as one would a fragile human.

Anudjan had the look of an elderly man, in particular one from South Africa clad in modernized traditional clothing. Not the typical image of an android, who were largely European featured and in standard clothes, so it didn't surprise him the human expected an actual elder.

"I am alright," Anudjan said. "What would you be doing here, mister Jake?"

He gestured at the massacre around them. "Find myself a weapon and do something about who ever did _that._ "

Anudjan put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm down the human. "Do not worry too much, none of them are dead. If you wish to assist, all you need to do is not give us any trouble. Someone will arrive soon and escort you to a room."

"But—"

"You misunderstand the situation. We cannot let a human run around in our base when we have no reason to assume you are pro-synthetic in any way." To cement that, he swiftly snatched the rod the man carried. "No time for foolish heroics, sir."

It seemed to sink in that he wasn't facing another wayward human.

The man's shoulders dropped. "I see. Just, ... are they going to be okay? The girls?"

Ah, attachment. Either aftereffects of being in her hivemind, or he might be an acceptable human. That was for later, though.

Anudjan went on, carefully making his way through the halls and occasionally stopping to promise the attacker help was on the way. He might have stopped to help, but the immediate issue was getting Karga'te to stop wandering around here. That done, all would be well. Considering everything that had gone wrong, the mission had turned out remarkably well. The angry foster parent thing was a mere blip on the radar, really.

He found him in the antechamber to the docks, where he had circled into from the hangar's main inner exit. By now, he'd stopped, or he'd heard Anudjan come and waited.

Leaning back against a table, Karga'te stared right at him. His claws ticked on the board and he wiped some white fleck off his face.

"Karga'te, was this all necessary?"

"If you want me less pissed off before I walked into your arsenal, yes," he snarled.

"I suppose we should be grateful you have not been making a habit of this for the duration of your daughter's absence."

"Maybe I _will_ make a habit out of it, now that there's a prickly hardmeat queen leaking into my mind."

That hadn't occurred to him as a possible risk. Karga'te's temper was usually foul, at least when the Auton were concerned, but he didn't kill at random. His eyes rested on the twitching pieces of his kin, was this vengeance or psychic madness?

Why of all things had the chimera girl chosen a badblood yautja for a father? Why couldn't it have been a nice, quiet little alien with no lifelong training in murder?

"Do you feel like continuing to the arsenal, or shall I lead you to Kirindi now? She and her sister are in the sick bay."

"I know that," he said. "I want to know why."

As if he needed to be told that, Kirindi probably had already informed him of her injuries and its treatment. The yautja really asked him why Anudjan had talked her into this mission.

"It was useful, she was there, it gave us a cover. Unlike the other Enigma stations, this one has a binary operating system, there was no way to get aboard without leaving traces. We might as well make a splash."

"Really? The one where Kirindi's sister is just happens to have that?"

"The one where Kirindi's sister is holds, well, Kirindi's sister and a multitude of other psychic entities with a penchant for driving humans insane. The other stations handle different things."

Karga'te crossed his arms. "Convenient."

An uncomfortable silence hung between them; Anudjan let it be.

"So where is the sick bay anyway?"

**· · · · · · ·**

Kirindi wasn't keen on hiding things from her father. For a little while, as long as it took for the Auton to say they had a way to find her sister and get aboard, it had been okay. She hadn't planned on bringing back pure hardmeat. Telling Karga'te would be right because he was her parent and she should be honest and he deserved that, but he would kill them or at least get in the way of helping Odygos's Mother. So not telling him was also a form of doing the right thing.

She liked Odygos, so she chose to be silent.

Right could be tricky, and the worst part was the ease with which she could choose to hide them. She felt like a traitor, but that feeling didn't make her spill the truth.

Her sister didn't understand, to her Karga'te was nothing yet. No father. She understood the concept of treachery, but didn't get how it applied to Kirindi; to her that was embodied din Jonah, whom she didn't want to think about. All her mind was on getting out of here.

"What's wrong?" asked the Auton working on her arm; peeling off a damaged skin layer to weld a cut below. "Does it hurt?"

It did, but that wasn't the reason for the sadness on her face.

"Just sad. Sister is so afraid here," she whispered. No lie, it reminded her sister of the laboratories.

That got an odd look from the Auton. Considering that they had ladders and crude tools to tend to her, rather than giant jars and robot arms, it must have sounded like an unfit comparison.

"It's the halls and machines and magnetic fields," Kirindi said.

And that's all her sister noticed beyond Kirindi.

Karga'te came their way and Kirindi had to press down the urge to rush out and meet him, her sister couldn't care less. It confused her, how could her sister care for her, but not care for what she found so important?

Ti'chai-di noticed that and now she tried to understand. Questions like this hadn't ever been put before her, she only felt what she felt.

When she turned the question back Kirindi, it explained some. Why didn't Kirindi fear this area? Simple, she knew it wasn't dangerous, and so Kirindi sent her the reasons. Similarity wasn't a threat, but Karga'te was similar in that he was family.

"Done," the Auton said, patting her softly on the freshly bandaged arm. Metal clasps held alkali bandages in place, improvised but durable.

"You, please go meet that hunter before he wrecks other people," one of the Auton at the door called to her, while backing away from said door.

Kirindi lingered, Ti'chai-di hated the idea she'd leave her alone, but ... come on, it was only for a little while and not far away. She'd come right back. She'd been able to be away from Karga'te too, right?

Away from him, that was a first in her short life.

She bolted out of the makeshift sickbay as well as her pained legs could carry her. Turning a few corners, there was her father. He clattered his mandibles and said a telepathic hello tinted with anger, which she answered with a happy, loud shriek. He stopped walking and pushed Anudjan to the side, making room for the inevitable glomp.

Jumping up, she twisted around him almost like a facehugger.

"I'm home," she said, softly pushing her check against his.

Whatever rant he'd prepared at her departure flickered away with his anger. She did not feel regret, but she offered a humble apology, more soothing than acknowledgement of error.

"I noticed."

He never hugged her back, but he didn't push her away either like he had done years ago.

Kirindi climbed up on his shoulders, concentrating on his happiness rather than the irritation he still felt. Twisting her tail around his torso for extra balance, she decided she'd stay here for a while.

"Kirindi..." he said.

"Yes?"

What had happened had happened. A promise not to do it again would be useful, because she had only one sister. He'd have done the same regardless of any rules, right?

He didn't answer that, only laid out that it should have been a safer plan, not of Auton making. Machines shouldn't be trusted so easily.

"... so where's the new kid?"

Anudjan gestured for them to follow and opened the door before them. With Kirindi still on his shoulders, Karga'te followed.

His brisk pace slowed down when he saw her, till he froze up.

Oh, he'd expected another humanoid like herself. When Kirindi communicated with him, she relayed emotions, opinions and other states of being. Physical attributes rarely mattered and full out images he wasn't the best in receiving.

"This ... please tell me this is not a queen."

"I could tell you but it would be a lie," Anudjan said. "So, what do you think of your new family member? It's probably best if you keep her in the city, because I don't think you can keep her traceless in the wilderness and there sometimes are yautja coming to this planet. Maybe you should take that job that the city's supervisor offered you, you'd get plenty of money to buy a house ..."

Karga'te kicked him over.

Her sister looked up now, causing the gynoid who'd been tending to her shoulder to tumble off. Pushing her face from below her crest, she took her first look at Karga'te. The vaguest sense of contentment about him grew; she'd recognized he didn't like machines.

Karga'te stepped before her face, wondering where the hardmeat ended and the human began.

Kirindi climbed onto her crest, and quietly said there was no border. Didn't he knew that already? Her sister echoed that.

With a chuckle, he laid his hand on the queen chimera's head, right where Kirindi would rest her forehead for comfort.

"Welcome to the intergalactic garbage dump, Ti'chai-di."

**· · · · · · ·**


	11. Unsettled Thoughts

**· · · · · · ·**

_December 15, 2577_

_Location : Planet Kyasumeni_

_· · · · · · ·_

Odygos lingered in the canopy, hidden to observe the wonderful warrior creatures he had found. Agile, with long tails and sharp, crescent claws at the end of powerful limbs. There were about fifteen of them close around their kill, he could capture one if he ambushed them.

The carrier got off his back, on standby, and he quietly descended his tree. It took more time than it should, considering that frost and bad travel accommodations had left him a wee bit internally fried. His muscles didn't obey as perfect as he wanted and it was difficult to focus.

He made it down the tree without little enough sound, but misplaced his right arm on a slippery patch of moss, which sent him rolling down the hill. After a marvelous failure of biomechanic grace, he slammed down before the flock.

Fifteen curious faces turned to him, accompanied with high alert and profound confusion at why a rock acted like an animal.

One of them stepped towards him, ready to kill if he was a threat but curious for now. The others started to circle him, but kept their distance and chattered.

They were intelligent, more so than the other creatures he had encountered. That was a benefit, he knew somehow.

How did he know that anyway? He usually got information from learning it or from Mother's sleep drunken ramblings.

The creature now sniffed him, hissing a low threat.

Right, don't get distracted. He had to disable a host.

He collected spit in his throat, raised up and spat at the nearest host. It sidestepped easily and backed away, looking at the acid melting through the sand.

Its hiss turned to a growl, sending the entire pack on an aggressive crouch. They attacked as one.

And there were the claws in his neck and between his ribs. They didn't scratch through the tougher underskin, but it was another distraction. His brain didn't really know what to do with this, because he shouldn't even have skin.

He grabbed the nearest and drove his tongue through its skull, then pushed the next to the ground and broke its neck.

That sent a quick and efficient message of danger, and they backed off. Within seconds they communicated in their odd language, then they shifted method.

Three of them sprang forward, two high into the air and one from the side. A fourth dodged for his tail. That one he managed to slash clear across the chest, but the one coming from his side rammed against him while the another landed on his back. Another snapped at his neck. Odygos let it bite and get a mouth full of acid. Before it could move off, he grabbed it and pinned it to the ground, cracking its legs.

Two attackers from the side rammed him and while he reared, they pushed him on his back. Under the combined weight, the four protrusions in his back sunk into the humus. This dinosaurs tried to slash his stomach open, but found more tough skin.

Odygos had a bigger problem, namely getting up. Far away, Kirindi experienced an emotion she called joy. Its subset of amusement in particular. Sharing this feeling, he both got it and despised it, because he was the reason.

The dinosaurs backed off now, chattering with each other again. They must've concluded he wasn't worth fighting, because they took off. By the time Odygos figured out he could pull himself free with his tail, after digging into the humus a bit, they were all gone.

Well, except the one with broken legs and acid-scorched mouth. He called over the orincubix.

The beast kept its mouth shut firmly, but Odygos pried it open and let the incubation begin. Then he waited for his ally to exist.

· · · · · · ·

"We'll come for you later," said the android as he closed the door.

"See, not a prison room!" Shadhahvar bounced around the room, which was a barren but spacey room with a little kitchen and separate bedroom and bathroom. There even was a balcony.

Jake shook his head at Shadhahvar. "No, not a cell, but he still locked the door."

He sat on one of the chairs and slumped his head into his hands.

"You okay, Jake?" Shadhahvar asked, running a hand through his hair.

"I don't know what they sprayed in me, but it probably doesn't work well with your drink, girl."

"Yeah, you're going kinda blueish. Hey, come look at the pretty view! Did you know we're like, hundreds of feet above the ground?"

She pulled at his arm, he didn't have the energy to argue and let himself be pulled onto the balcony.

Holy heaven or whatever might exist.

For a few seconds Jake couldn't place the location. There was rock above, but the sheer size couldn't possible be a cave. Nothing this vast could support all the rock above, right?

Pillars so thick that small towns might fit in them supported a ceiling that had to be at least half a kilometer above the ground. Filling several square kilometers between these was a vast city carved from the redbrown rock or made from silvery architecture he couldn't place to any human culture. Mismatched ships flew as tiny dots around, several larger ones were docked at the pillars.

The late day and rock rock put a warm veil over the place, which contrasted sharply with the cool brightness of the jungle beyond. Their current location was at the opposite end of the wide entrance, in the solid wall.

"We're inside that plateau. Isn't it pretty?"

He bucked forward and emptied his stomach. Whether it was the height, or the sinking realization he was stuck on an alien world, he didn't know. Probably both. He wasn't trained for this.

"Jake...someone is here."

What, the Auton were back already? He looked at the door and waited; sometimes Shadhahvar knew people would arrive soon. Nobody came in.

He was about to ask her what was up, but she pressed against the sidewall of the balcony, wide eyes fixed on the opposite corner.

"Jake, there's a ghost."

"Ghosts don't exist, Shadey," he muttered.

She pointed at the corner of the balustrade. "It's still now but I saw it when it moved.

"Nonsense, there isn't ..."

How voice trailed off as he looked at the area, on the surface only dark distant rock wall with some lights on it, but ... the air actually did look very wrong there. It had a outline ...

_Hunter._

Jake, the robots took my knives. Do you have any weapons?" Shadhahvar squeaked.

"No, don't fight it. Never fight them," he muttered.

The cloak sizzled off, punctuating that. Jake wouldn't fight that even with a gun, if given the choice. It had a humanoid build, but taller and more muscular than any human. They were said to be faster too, despite their bulk. Even if he shot it, he bet it would just keeping going long enough to be a problem. And that face. They really did have mandibles. Nothing really deserved to be called human about it.

And then it rolled its eyes in a most human way.

"Is the fish mouth your only trick or did Kirindi have another reason to keep you around?" it said in garbled human tongue.

Jake shut his mouth.

The hunter crossed its arms and leaned against the wall. "Who are you two?"

"It came to make chit-chat?" Shadhahvar had spoken Jake's thoughts.

"Uhm...I'm Jake, that's Shadhahvar, and you are?"

Tilting its head, the hunter said, "Take a guess. I'm pretty noticeable around here."

It had mentioned Kirindi ...

Now he had a moment to mull things over, something was off about the hunter. The thick hide faded from yellow to brown with dark stripes, and the dreadlocks were dark brown rather than black. No mask, and the armor looked peculiar. Similar to Kirindi's, rather than the typical hunter style. The thick hide too, it faded from yellow to brown with dark stripes, and the dreadlocks were dark brown rather than black.

He didn't know whether any of that related, but he was pretty sure he was looking at Karga'te.

"You're not here to hunt anything, are you?" Shadhahvar asked.

"You tell me. Any food in this compound?"

"Us?"

The hunter made a disgusted face. "I tried humans once. It was vile."

"If you tried that, you're a badblood or something? Like hunters only do trophies, so you gotta be badblood," Shadhahvar said.

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Oh, we had files at my old base, lots of them. It was an awesome base, the cyberdämmerungs never touched it. Hell knows stuff."

"Great. How about sharing some? Who are you to Kirindi?"

"Really bad ass mercenaries, that's why those creeps wanted us for hosts! So we like agreed they were creeps and so did Kirindi. Duh. Who are you anyway?"

He growled, irritated. "Karga'te, who wants to know why Kirindi kicked you out of her hivemind."

"Why don't you ask them? I mean, you're still in, right?" Jake said, with a voice less steady than he liked.

After a pause, Karga'te said, "I can't _pry_ in them. _You_ , on the other hands ..."

"Look, I don't know, but it's not a bad thing for kids to have secrets. Privacy's something everyone likes, right?" It felt like a risk to say, and was probably the wrong thing, but he knew when he was threatened.

"They are hardmeat. I will have to kill them if their nature shows through. I don't know what happens now that Kirindi has her sister and the last thing I need is the machines learning Kirindi to lie right now."

Jake looked away, scratching the back of his head. "Maybe I'm just not worthy? We were just useful to her, she drew some other people in too. Now she's got what she wanted."

The hunter clattered his mandibles. Impatience? Amusement?

"Kirindi is willing to love everyone who is nice to her. She doesn't have rules about worthiness and honor and crap like that. No, she rejects you because if she let you in, I could get in your mind as well and for some reason she doesn't want that."

He only needed one quick step forward to grab Jake and pushed him half over the balcony's edge. A ship passed below and ever deeper was a jutted wall where someone sold flying monsters, further down, a squashy death.

"Your friend's right, I _am_ bad blood," the hunter said. "I'm not gonna give you a fair fight, I'm just gonna see whether you hit the ground in one piece."

"There's nothing to hide!" he said, if only because his trained reflex for interrogation was denial. Typical interrogations involved sterile rooms, bright lights and psychological warfare. Things he could predict. Not this.

The nails dug through his skin as he pushed Jake deeper down.

"Kirindi's sister, she seethes like that human she'd been bonded to. It's getting into Kirindi's head. What's the secret? Did it take over mind or something?"

Jake braced against the balustrade, but the yautja was far stronger than him, keeping him in his unbalanced position with a single hand.

"Hey, let him go!" Shadhahvar jerked at the Karga'te's arm, to no effect. "Come on. They didn't like me! I've got fuzz in my head and it made them nuts and the big one got angry and—come on don't kill Jake."

The grip on his neck loosened a little and the hunter leaned back, probably to look at Shadhahvar.

A few long moments passed, then Jake was abruptly dropped. He nearly toppled ahead, but someone grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled. He stumbled back on the balcony, colliding with one of the chairs.

The hunter leaned against the balustrade, face half behind a hand and mandibles twitching at an odd angle. "What is _wrong_ with her mind?"

Jake scrambled to his feet. "Ehm, don't know. She's been weird since I found her."

"I know raving children with more mental coherency than this."

"I bet," Jake said. "And she keeps contacting _me_ while in the hive mind thingy. She wanted to show me everything."

The yautja lost some of his tension at this, but not all.

"Wait, you _wanted_ out? And this ... human here is always like this? ... Why didn't you just say so?"

"You didn't look like the kind of guy to take my word for it and I didn't know you could mindread without Kirindi."

He grumbled something about limits, but relaxed. After taking a deep breath and glaring at Shadhahvar, he hopped onto the balustrade, ready to leave.

"Why are you here with Kirindi anyway?" Shadhahvar asked.

"Where is here?" Jake muttered to himself.

Karga'te didn't get off the balustrade, but did lean aside to look at them.

"I think market's the word in your language."

This. The grand, epic scenery no doubt built by amazing technology beyond any human understanding. A market.

Karga'te had to be good at reading human expression, because with a wry thrill he explained.

"There's three dozen sapient species in this galaxy who have space flight, and a few come in from other galaxies. Stuff and violence, that's the two things all cultures exchange. Those gooey machines don't plant bombs to save humankind, they do it for the rest that's less of a plague. You're the only humans in this city, you know."

He hardly sounded the same. Jake suspected he already spoke with Kirindi right now and would have asked how she was doing, but the hunter jumped up to a nearby sky anchor and vanished behind his cloaking.

Shadhahvar peered over the edge and waved after him. "Wow. That so totally changed my world-view thing."

Jake threw up his hands. "Yes. Yes it did. Over thirty other civilizations and I'm part of the plague species. So we're told by a defector of the other plague species. Wonderful. I'm going to try sleeping, maybe then I'll wake up."

He rubbed the back of his painful neck and drew back a bloody hand. "Or maybe just see whether that bathroom has band aids."

_· · · · · · ·_

Kirindi pressed her face against the aircraft's window and peered down at the thriving city, drinking in the sight and grasping at the loosest traces of mind. She'd never been allowed within the city and Karga'te didn't want her to bring any of them into their shared mind, so this was all new despite having lived on the planet for years. Now she saw them, she wanted to even more; so many weird and funny creatures.

At first her sister didn't share her interest, but eventually got a prickle of it when she realized it made Kirindi happy to share. Ti'chai-di had seen dying swamp and death riddled prison, the idea that the environment might be fun was so novel to her.

On clunky legs, Ti'chai-di stood up and bumped her head against the window aside of Kirindi's. Her eyes were far worse, she didn't make out the same details, but her echolocation and range was much, much wider. When she focused, she could see the outlines within the houses even without picking up details from those inside. They placed their sight together to complete the picture, and found another thing to be in concord over.

Then the window Ti'chai-di leaned against popped out. Air pressure sucked her face outside, getting her stuck. Kirindi almost panicked, but it didn't hurt her sister like it would have hurt her. Ti'chai-di's top skin layer didn't feel much of anything, and her exoskeleton hadn't been broken.

Karga'te just sighed, but Anudjan stood up at once. "Oh my! Karga'te, shouldn't you help her?"

He had more interesting in struggling with his seat, which was way too small for him. "She's fine. She's wanted to look out and she's looking out and now she's happy."

Almost ecstatic actually; she had just discovered that things (other than family) could _smell_ nice.

"She's going to unbalance the ship, we already had to lose the ballast to even allow her on. She needs to be in the center," Anudjan said to Karga'te. "She should have stayed behind."

Karga'te ripped off the armrests and leaned back. "Why don't you try asking them and leave me alone, machine?"

When asked, Kirindi ignored it because Anudjan wasn't Karga'te and her sister was having fun for the first time in her life.

They'd been forced to take Ti'chai-di along because she wouldn't go back inside the Auton headquarters once she realized outside was nice and dry and not laboratory-like. Kirindi could have stayed, but she didn't want to. Karga'te responded to sad faces and feelings, so he'd let them. The Auton did not like to argue with him.

The landing into the central column's hangar was all but smoothly. The aircraft halted slid twenty meters into of the mega-catwalks and knocked a few workers off another ship in the process. Maybe Anudjan had a point about the balance thing.

Karga'te kicked the door open, jumped out and found Ti'chai-di's head. He pushed her back in, which was easier now since acid blood had eaten away at the edges.

Karga'te stared at the damage for a few seconds, as it started to sink in what kind of a life he was leading now. The kind where he casually popped hardmeat queens out of aircrafts and proceeded to _not_ have to flee for his life nor contemplate the madness of his actions.

Others were doing that for him. The moment Ti'chai-di stumbled out of the back hatch, every creature in the hang reached the unanimous decision that this was a marvelous time for blind panic. While they fled for their unthreatened lives, Karga'te shit Anudjan a murderous glare.

"This is not going to work," he snarled.

"I assure you, Karga'te, all we need to do it a little negotiation and explain she's harmless. Once the Supervisor understands her use, he will surely relent," Anudjan said in his cozy uncle tone.

"I don't control them, or Kirindi wouldn't have worked with you behind my back."

"Might you perhaps say that a little louder?" Anudjan said. "Some people here understand English and we wouldn't like our dear hosts to know that."

Ti'chai-di stomped down the dock, sending small shockwaves all over the places. Kirindi told her there would be an elevator somewhere, which she didn't like. She wanted to go up from the outside.

"Get back here!" Karga'te yelled. He sent along the idea of getting making the assholes who controlled this shitty place do what they want, which appealed to Ti'chai-di's dislike for people who ran laboratories. She turned around.

"I _can_ find common ground, though," Karga'te said.

Anudjan sighed. "It'll have to do."

Kirindi got the sense it wouldn't do, judging be thoughts in the people around, which she had an easier time deciphering with Ti'chai-di's help.

Ti'chai-di didn't fit the elevator, so they had to wait down here. Kirindi stayed with her, but Karga'te let her watch along through his senses. Karga'te was one of those yautja who consciously processed colors now, which her sister drank in.

Through sandy halls and up a few more elevators, then some more corridors. They met with the secretary, a single armed but multi-lingual alien from a backwater planet who could handle most communication, who told them to wait. Ti'chai-di wasn't as curious to the secretary as Kirindi, but could be entertained with details like its scent and colors.

When someone of rank came, they were told the position was no longer open and given an earful about the monster at the docks.

Around now, said docks became livelier again, if not by workers. The city guard was a group of smaller aliens in metallic suits in various sizes, adept for various circumstances. They were here to apprehend Ti'chai-di. Kirindi didn't even bother with her weapons. She might be able to handle them while in poor shape, especially with her sister at her side, but why do that when she could persuade?

They were driven by minds, so she pushed in and convinced them to like her. She told Karga'te there was some opposition, but nothing to make him rush down here. With Ti'chai-di at her side, she was sure it wouldn't be a problem.

While Anudjan argued on, Karga'te got fed up and slipped out, quietly asking Kirindi for directions.

Kirindi pulled the layout of the area from the minds of the workers surrounding them and told Karga'te that yes, the Supervisor had a room with a window that could be accessed from the outside.

Karga'te had a long standing habit of not walking through any doors that belonged to anything that he might have eaten in another situation. This included the city's supervisor, which could best be described as a beige and green worm with one eye on each end, about a meter long. Worms either killed you or you ate them, where Karga'te came from, so he barged in, grabbed it and held it out of the window.

He let it wriggle for a bit, and Kirindi had to try hard not to think too hard about Odygos doing the same.

"~What do you mean, I can't have the job?~"

Hguthreeit made a surface show of pleading to be let in, but mostly just boiled with rage at the mistreatment.

"~ Sure. They're decent, but Kirindi doesn't even need to fight them with Ti'chai-di at her side. I'll take the suckers as my subordinates, and you can keep paying them if you want to.~"

The doors flung over and in came the secretary, Anudjan and that other one.

"Karga'te, is that necessary?" Anudjan said in that unfit calm voice.

"Yes," Karga'te said.

"You seem quite eager to threaten people to fall down, I don't like that."

Karga'te shrugged.

Hguthreeit sent a telepathic message to his secretary, who translated for Anudjan.

"~ The Respected Supervisor Hguthreeit would very much prefer that hostilities are ceased at once and to have an explanation for why you brought them here, despite the outcome of our prior negotiations. ~"

Anudjan gave an apologetic smile. "I am so sorry for all this, I assure you this was not intended as a hostile move. I merely wanted to help Karga'te apply for the position as Order Maintainer."

"He doesn't quite seem to encourage a safe environment," said the secretary.

Anudjan shook his head. "The chimera girls are harmless, they are children by mind and they obey Karga'te, and once Karga'te settles he will be more calm and—"

"According to the yautja himself, he is not yet in control of the larger one. She arrived mere hours ago from one of your ridiculous missions against the human species."

Anudjan opened his mouth, but Karga'te just threw the worm. Leaning out the window, he watched him tumble down, then turned to see whether Anudjan bothered with an expression. He was pleased to find horror.

"I wasn't _just threatening_ to throw people down. I was quite intend on doing it for real," he said with clattering mandibles, his kind of laughter.

"You murdered him!"

But the secretary just tapped him on the shoulder and said, "A trial period will be best. We would not want her to run in the wild and attract hunter attention. For now, there is an empty storage hall in the utrhtid-uouoo column. If Karga'te can demonstrate a certain degree of ... common ground with the queen, we may consider a permanent position. Anudjan, we thank you for your futile attempts at dealing with the asshole and would like to assure you that our respect supervisor has fallen into the manure deposit. The amount of damage allows survival. Vengeance shall be delivered at the appropriate address."

The secretary then led them out and slammed the door behind them.

"Well, that was...somewhat positive." said Anudjan. "Just a few minutes, and you already made new enemies."

Karga'te shrugged it off. "This is not what I call an enemy. I'm curious what the worm will come up with, he has more guts than slime."

At the docks, he started plucking Kirindi's newly adoring low key hive off her, and told her to detach from their minds.

Anudjan looked on with grave concern, but said nothing.

"Kirindi, take your sister to that hall, I'm going with the Auton to fetch some of their alkaline bandage stuff and some other things," he said.

She nodded. "Will do."

_· · · · · · ·_

Ti'chai-di did not like the empty hall, but accepted it. Typically Karga'te and Kirindi lived in the forest, traveling around and sleeping where they could build in the trees. Ti'chai-di couldn't do that; the trees weren't big enough for her and there were predators all around. Sometimes hunters even came. She had to hide.

They curled up in a corner on a dock near the ceiling. Once settled, Kirindi let Ti'chai-di give her some mental space to process the mess of her own mind. The guards had needed a lot of forceful control to not outright attack her sister; they had their own little mind to work against hers.

Thankfully, Hguthreeit hadn't told Anudjan she could even do that. The Auton weren't too keen on hiveminds used with force. She wasn't either.

She preferred the softer persuasion, as it hurt nobody, but she could do more. Her sister operated on this level by default, simply shouting her wants into a mind. She lacked the focus to exert true control, however. Her benefit instead lay in the vast amount of processing space she possessed in her vastly bigger brain. Kirindi had sought her sister to fill a hole, but she turned out to be an addition. Something that Kirindi wasn't at all averse to.

When Karga'te contacted her with the news, she told him about this.

"~ I'm starting to get Jake's fear of the hivemind. ~"

Oh, that was new. Well, if it meant he wouldn't pry about her refusing them, she'd roll with it. He still found it a bit odd she'd reject hivemembers, but shrugged it off with her sister being enough now. A little bit of hope came with that. He wasn't too keen on big hiveminds. She was, sadly enough.

"~ Even if they're not in with us, do you still want to have those humans? ~"

"~ Sure. They're funny, thought Shadey's a little confusing. ~"

"~ Oh, I noticed. ~"

Not too long after that, the doors opened and closed.

"Woah, this is very...empty and cold. Gotta complement that supervisor guy on his interior choices," Jake said.

"Idiot. Half the city heard by now there is a demon queen and they're are ready to kill her. They can't get in here and it's got space. That's all that matters," snarled Karga'te, already annoyed with his guests.

"Good thing we got sleeping bags," said Shadhahvar as she bounced ahead, way too happy for the gloomy place they were in.

"She can't break anything in here, right?" Jake asked Karga'te. He just got a grumble in reply.

He let them wander off and climbed up to the sisters. Ti'chai-di was too cold and not all to aware of her body, so he nearly tripped over her tail.

Irritated, he took out a flashlight and glared at Ti'chai-di, who showed a ghost of a smile, but pulled her tail back.

Sitting down at Kirindi's side, he dropped a bag in her lap. In it were various dolls she'd made in the past, all of temporary hive members. Karga'te was the only regular. "Got any new ones?"

"Yes," she said, and pulled them out of her backpack. When she handed the new ones to him, she said their names. Jake. Shadhahvar. Ti'chai-di. Sarah.

When she handed the black drone doll, she stayed silent.

"Why?" he asked simply.

"Many of them. In pain there, at the station. Some were different. Like Ti'chai-di. I remember them."

He didn't like that answer at all. Sympathy for hardmeat, bah. He tried to understand it, though.

Putting the dolls into the bag, he handed it back to her and said, "Those two are here because like the machines, I'm curious whether or not you have a secret. Since you're silent, I'm going to see whether I can pick up anything on my own. Jake can handle money for us in the meantime."

She grew a little sad. "I don't lie to you."

"You can lie by not telling stuff too," he said.

Ti'chai-di had been cold to him, now she almost felt like he was a threat. It struck her that Karga'te maybe, perhaps, didn't push harder for the truth because he understood she'd be dangerous.

In a way, Karga'te had accepted her more easily than she did him, or he wouldn't have bothered getting the job. He could have just helped them lock her up.

She curled her arms around his and leaned her cheek against him. For a moment he remembered something that unsettled him. Kirindi couldn't tell the details, but was pretty sure that he'd known chimeras before. He pushed it away quickly, and focused on the present. To him, his best guess was that Ti'chai-di had done something that would spook him, and had already spooked the humans. She'd let it that way, for now, until and if she found an answer.

This would be the first time they dreamed with Ti'chai-di within their hivemind. Karga'te braced for pain, to Kirindi's surprise. He told her that people, especially children, didn't just stop hurting once they got out of their nightmare life. Something about that had to do with why he was both terrified and accepting there was a secret at all.

_· · · · · · ·_


	12. Many Sights

_· · · · · · ·_

_December 16, 2577_

_Location : Planet Kyasumeni_

_· · · · · · ·_

Kirindi opened her eyes to darkness and he echo outline of Shadhahvar crossing a nearby catwalk. She seemed lost, but not in any immediate danger of falling, so Kirindi considered going back to sleep. Karga'te was still dreaming with Ti'chai-di, he wouldn't like to be on his own there.

Ti'chai-di's dreams were misted swamps and iced halls, chasing shadows of those she hated. There was no joy in it, only raw instinct and survival. They'd have to figure out how to bring her sister into her father's dreams instead. Karga'te had fire in his nightmares, but he more often he dreamed of things he loved. They tamed beasts and had weird adventures with his odd old friends, who were just as misplaced in yautja culture as he had been. Monstrous humans sometimes wandered by, and a little girl who Karga'te both cared for and despised. Karga'te's brother was a silent presence, his weird wives more lively and their stuck up sister Meidache a low key enemy. She liked those dreams better than the hollow pain of his sister, whose reason for living she couldn't even decipher.

Karga'te turned in his sleep and she had to avoid a flaying arm. His breathing was too heavy. She tried to figure out how to reverse the dream flow, but didn't know.

"Okay, I give. It _is_ too dark. Weird chimera thingies, where are you?"

Karga'te got grouchy without sleep and Shadhahvar would most certainly wake him, so she slipped out of their spot and met the woman.

"I'm here," she whispered as she climbed up from the bottom of Shadhahvar's catwalk, causing the woman to startle. "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, the robot people are here for Jake," Shadhahvar said. "I don't trust it."

Kirindi agreed on that, so she went to wake Karga'te. He'd be more grouchy if his humans disappeared.

While he struggled to wake up, she pushed the information Jake had given her into his mind.

Karga'te gave a deep growl. "Blasted machines."

After stretching to wake up, he jumped down the catwalks. Kirindi stayed a bit to comfort her sister, who had been jarred from the sleep she needed so badly. Then she followed Karga'te.

Persephone and five other Auton had gathered in the hall's little front room, where the controls were. Jake spoke with them in low, anxious tone that Kirindi couldn't hear clearly with the buzz of nearby machines.

Karga'te jumped down to the floor and drew the attention of the Auton with a short bark.

"That's _my_ human." He lurched for Persephone, grabbing her by the neck and tossing her away.

Anudjan was not present, in his stead came a rather clean-cut looking android with a sharp face and a matching voice. "We are taking these two humans to continue the psychological investigation. They may be returned to you if the matrix deems such safe. We have reason to believe—"

"Update for you, machine : I took these weaklings in. You got a whole cargo of soft meat to play with, you don't even need mine," he snarled.

"I am aware, but that does not mean they cannot go as they please, right? Or did you really take in slaves?"

Jake thought he didn't wanna talk about the adventure, but he did want to talk about going home, so he wasn't sure. Kirindi gave him a nudge to speak up.

"They just wanna run some tests," Jake said. "The other humans woke up and they're full of side effects. I think I should go."

Persephone rejoined them, at a distance from Karga'te. "Besides, we're still a little curious as to why Kirindi doesn't have them in her hive mind?"

"Not your business and not your humans," Karga'te snarled. With that, he grabbed Jake's shoulder and dragged him out the room.

Ti'chai-di growled as she woke up and jumped down, following some vague sense of leaving. She didn't like the Auton wanting to bring people anywhere, it reminded her of things she hated.

Kirindi waited for her and followed when she stumbled past the small group, after Karga'te and Jake.

"Karga'te, you cannot take her outside! There already is unrest about her presence. Half the city fears she will start a plague!" Persephone called after them.

Karga'te just kept dragging a Jake along. Persephone jogged after them.

"We can't recover Y-921's memory and there's some things that make no sense. Jake might know the answer. Maybe he's holding something back, maybe he's got cognitive issues we can clear up. Just let us—"

Karga'te stopped in his track, spun and backhanded her to the ground.

"You _will_ keep your filthy needles and machines away or I'm going to _visit_ your place again."

Persephone didn't press further.

Karga'te dragged Jake to a nearby aircraft, which was technically public transport right up until Kirindi sidled up to the pilot and convinced them to be a very helpful lift. For once, Karga'te allowed her to pull in someone from here, albeit not all the way. An overworked public servant who got little gratitude for their job was easy, even when Ti'chai'di crawled into the cargo area.

Shadhahvar followed on her own and, having gotten the gist of getting away from Auton, deactivated the modem so they wouldn't hack it. This involved the refined method of shooting it after typing didn't work.

Kirindi leaned out of the window to give the Auton a sweet smile and a wave. Now began the game of avoid Auton and keeping secrets, lots of them. With that began a fun game of avoiding androids and keeping their secret. Karga'te would doubtlessly try to get information out of Jake and Shadhahvar, but she knew he'd be less effective than the Auton.

"Where are we going?" Shadhahvar asked.

"We're moving in with my employer," Karga'te grumbled.

_· · · · · · ·_

_December 28, 2577_

_· · · · · · ·_

Had she been keeping a diary, Kirindi would have described the following days as the days of status refinement. She'd heard the Auton refer to upgrading a faulty system like that once. In her own instincts there were no words for this.

Karga'te called it step 1 of controlling Ti'chai-di, which meant making her understand that obedience to Karga'te was directly relevant to her survival in this place. This was not easy.

Step 2 was making the immediate surrounding less suspicious to them. This was even harder. Neither goal would be reached any time soon, so she hoped that Hguthreeit would be lenient or think the results were funny.

Now, for the first time since her return, she was able to go out alone. There were some plants Karga'te needed, as during a hunt to obtain food for Ti'chai-di he had gotten wounded. And slightly delirious as well, since the critter he had hunted was poisonous to yautja. He seemed perfectly happy though, almost giddy, so she didn't mind taking a little longer. There was someone she needed to meet, though she was sad that she could not take Ti'chai-di along with her.

After such a long time in the crowded city, the cool rainforest seemed almost a new experience all over again, but she was more interested in her new friend. The mapped area in her mind, she followed a clear trail through the trees, leading to a lake miles away from the city.

It was surrounded by a cliff on one side and the roots of half-water trees on the other end. Without hesitation, she ran onward and dived off the cliff. Her hands came close to her body and her spikes folded down right before she splashed into the water. Any normal human would have been knocked out by the impact, but the hard skeleton hidden right under her white skin gave her a pretty solid resistance.

When the momentum of her impact slowed down she began swinging her tail to swim faster down. Daylight faded swiftly as she reached the bottom, leaving only a blue haze above. From here on she went on senses alone. Her echo worked odd down here, but her telepathy was clearer than before.

There was a cave behind a small opening of a few meters wide, hidden by a group of darkwater plants. She wrestled her way through and took the long swim into the caves. Oxygen she did not need, like the two drones who had taken the same way before her had not needed it either.

As she drew closer, the powerful telepathic aura of the two drones became intenser. They pulled at her, kin far more than ordinary xenomorph. Odygos had been calling for her for a long time now, but the other only joined now. He was a bit calmer than the former and she found his calling to be just as beautiful. It formed a serene backtone to the high calls of the smaller drone.

Odygos, she now realized in their contrast, was a bit nuts. He had been forced to grow up in rapid speed as to aid them on Enigma II, but the new drone had taken proper time to develop. He was clearer, calmer and did not have the touch of chaos that his brother sported. A smiled, a mere reaction of the human side of her instincts and entirely meaningless to symbolize the growing euphoria she as she entered a perfect, flawless hive mind for the first time in her life.

They drew her in with strength, the presence of Karga'te and Ti'chai-di decreasing to a distant knowledge, not important to the present. There was the hive, only the hive and they called her in, they wanted her to join to complete it.

The beat of her tail increased. A strange scent, a feeling increased on her skin and she began to see something on the walls. No longer rocks save for a few places; the two drones had worked hard on producing a useful hive environment. Nutrition was abound in the resin they had created, using "dark matter" from a world she could not see. A soft glow emanated from bubbles within the texture, filling the underwater realm with an eerily beautiful light.

Reaching out, the tips of her fingers brushed the texture. In her mind an image formed of the complexity of the entire palace. She screeched to let it echo. A pathetic tremor waved through the water, but they heard her. The hive texture carried their vocal answer to her, so much more powerful.

It did not take much longer before she could see two swimming shapes approach her, vaguely visible in the dim light and sharply contrasting with the world around in their minds.

The familiar black form of Odygos came side by side with his younger brother. One would not say such on appearance though, as the new warrior was much larger and ... pointier.

Born from a deinonychus, the DNA Reflex had not only adopted feathers, but enhanced them into blades. These sprouted from the warrior's arms and replaced the tubes on its back. He was sleek yet incredibly powerful, she could feel it. Odygos was a messenger, a guide, while this new drone was the fighter.

They slowed at an intersection. Kirindi kept herself afloat in one spot while the new drone circled her. He was curious only to her as he reached out telepathically. She let her fingers trail over her exoskeleton each time he was close enough, tracing the ridges and ribs feather lightly. The warrior let it happen, incapable to perform such a touch himself and not caring to either.

She asked him who he was.

He had been given an assignment, he was to protect her. His mother herself had called out to the facehugger and imprinted it into his very nature by her superior Calling. Now she was here, after a long time. Patience was an irrelevant word for a creature such as him, for he knew no anxiety or any other emotion that could hinder in his function. Yet, he did experience a sort of relief his task finally came face to face with him. How would he serve, he asked.

Just be with her, she said.

He halted and brought the dome of his head close to her, seeing her into every detail with echo and telepathy. Not unlike her first meeting with her sister, yet so unlike in its serenity. Neither of the drones were burdened with negative and pointless emotions such as sadness and suffering. Crystal clear they were, especially the youngest.

Kirindi found it strange now, suddenly. He was designed to protect her, yet never before had anyone specifically protected her save for Karga'te. The human part of her mind fought to give this a place in the structure of her all, her life. Her instinct however simply danced with the minds of the others.

He was hers, so to say. Part of her and that was what he was for. So, she could name him, right?

"~ Eliath. ~"

A spark of confusion came within the warrior, at which Odygos explained her human habit of "naming". Eliath let it be. She could do as she wanted, it didn't matter to him.

Kirindi reached out with her hands, pulling herself closer to the front dome of his head, like she did with her sister and Karga'te. Eliath did not understand it, for Odygos spoke to him at that moment : that he was wrong, it would matter.

Kirindi's mental touch rolled through him, the human aspect of her mind interwoven with the alien one. Unlike Odygos, he did not wonder. It felt pleasant, yet meant nothing to him still. She persisted and he began to recognize why it felt so right; it was like the calling of a queen and compliance on his side. It also felt wrong, as it conflicted with the idea of only having a single queen, yet that soon faded. Reassurance was pointless, technically, but it was a concept the warrior could grasp. She placed herself submissive under the Mother, such she told him and that was enough. He'd live for her.

All seemed well to Kirindi. Peacefulness was a rare experience, something she now learned to love. Life here had never been dangerous before, but would be if Karga'te found out about the drones. She'd seen enough dreams of him to know his fears.

But it would be alright. When Sarah would come, she would bring order to it all.

_· · · · · · ·_

_Location : Enigma II_

_· · · · · · ·_

Sarah opened her eyes to sharp, bright light and closed them at once. Considering she'd been in pain and bleeding just before, that was good. She wasn't dead yet.

"I'm gonna keep saying it until someone listens. She should be dead. How did she survive this?" A stranger, who?

"Well, not _all_ these injuries result in instant death." This stranger didn't sound very convinced. "It's that's she waking up while the drones are stirring that freaks me out."

She drifted off again, but didn't lose consciousness. Rather, sound became less relevant the more she felt.

In the absence of life threatening danger, she became aware of an ongoing pressure that enveloped the station, as if she was deep in the earth with weight threatening to crush her at any time. Rather than feel it on her body, it was in her mind alone. The absence of acid and adrenaline made it stand out so much more.

The drone had left her here, because she had to stay ... for Noasyvé.

"Sarah?" That voice she knew, but she didn't sense much she felt should be there. A body, some radiation, few thoughts ... not enough. Not like the humans earlier.

"Sarah, it's Jonah. You're alive and not slated for execution, but you would do well to stay down for a while. It's raising a few questions how you survived and I'm not sure how to explain that in a way that doesn't make them want to dissect you."

She didn't want to say anything to him, not anymore.

"I know you can hear me. You don't have to respond. In fact, it's better if you play unresponsive and ill. I've told them you had some enhancements that explain this,

She didn't need his permission to open her eyes, she just didn't want to.

What she wanted was explanations and something to hold onto. Between the pressure and the veil, there was little but the black mother. The Oldest. Her.

She owned the veil ...

_· · · · · · ·_

_Location : Planet Ro, Beast Nebula_

_· · · · · · ·_

Ayo stretched out before opening her eyes. The cave surrounding her was so still compared to the wilderness she'd she come from. Nothing but dripping water on the moss and dim light.

The others were still gone, or Oihana at least would be be near. Ayo didn't worry, they'd be fine. She'd made sure of that. The problem was how to keep them being fine now the plans would need to change.

A shadow at the edge of the door and powerful radiance in the Ashla revealed a visitor. "If you're going to hover, you might as well do it in here."

"What about your whole 'the bogan disturbs my radiance', hmm?"

Ayo smiled. "Well, it seems you didn't today. It's getting better. Were you testing?"

"You bet."

Azenkastral had to bend down to enter the cave. Purring, she slunk closer and dropped at Ayo's side, curling her tail around her. Ayo leaned against her arm, content not to get up yet and to ignore that Azenkastral was tense.

"So? What did you see just now? You're back earlier."

"Am I?"

"What's going on?"

No use hiding it.

"A lot going on, but the short version is that we're going to need the Sanhedrim ship soon. Noasyvé decided to do the drastic thing. I thought we had years yet."

Azenkastral thrilled, but Ayo knew she'd be annoyed deep down. Still, she could commend that Azenkastral had enough peace not to immediately blow up her surroundings.

"You need help?"

"Not yours specifically," she said. "Stay hidden for now."

Contacting the Aing-Tii wasn't impossible, but she had no innate skill for it and the nature of her hidden self meant she'd expose herself to the enemy's telepathy. She'd try reaching Oihana through Xylia.

They could fret over handing Shanderah after that.

**· · · · · · ·**


	13. Hidden Eye

**· · · · ·**

_February 21, 2578  
_ _Location : Enigma II_

**· · · · ·**

The lamps flickered on and drove away the darkness, even under the blankets of the bed. She crossed an arm over her face and turned to the wall. For a long time, she didn't stir.

The man in the other room rushed to get read for his job, unable to condone his own laziness as always. Once she would have smirked at it; he still didn't clean up his used tools till it was too late, leaving him searching in the morning. Like past times. Ha. No more.

After a while, he knocked on her door. "Sarah, I think you're awake ... and if you're not, you need to be and get up. We'll be late."

The answer came in a short, low grumble. Her usual acknowledgment of his presence.

"Five minutes, Sarah."

The Jonah of past times would have waited for ten minutes, bonking on the door every now and then while whining about the time it took her. This Jonah left after two minutes, perhaps with a sigh — or maybe just the rush of his clothes. He seemed above emotions now, except impatience.

When he was gone, she pushed herself up. Groggy, she jerked at the web of hair covering her face. She'd have to cut it again soon, it grew so fast lately.

She got dressed, struggled for a few minutes to get her hair in a bun and went to the living room.

Over her time, she had developed a routine to start the day. Simple, quick breakfast, ignore Jonah. He had given up on trying to tie on a conversation and endured her silence. He probably did not care.

This had been the standard since he had told her that she had been reported dead to her family, and he had ignored her request to drop them a hint she was alive. It wasn't that it had been too risky for him, she could have understood that. It was the way he flat out said no, and didn't respond when she lost it. Just ... nothing, like he wasn't even here.

Was _she_?

Jonah had told her she had died, and he had been given her corpse to use for cloning materials. To his relative surprise, her brain hadn't degenerated as it should. He had patched her up and revived her — she dared not ask why. Scientific curiosity? Friendship?

The Jonah she remembered wouldn't have needed to be asked, he'd have fallen around her neck and probably cried when she woke up. This Jonah had just stood there, smiling dimly and asking her how she felt.

He'd been awarded some privileges for his success. It had been decided that Sullivan was just incompetent, and Jonah had much potential. He'd accepted. Now there were little Sarah clones in the works. Future hosts.

Jonah never looked her in the face, even as he sat across of her.

Robotic arms extended from the walls, ready to clean up. It served as a subtle clue reminder they had to leave. Sarah wrestled her plate from the arms and took it along to her room.

"Sarah ..."

"So I'll be late. What are you going to do, fire me?"

She finished breakfast in her bedroom, eating slowly until she heard Jonah leave. He'd go ahead alone, she'd catch the next passenger robot.

Still chewing on a croissant, she wandered back into the main room. Jonah's quarters had about five rooms, but as he'd moved only recently, they were by and large empty. He awaited some things in the next delivery, for which he'd lined up shelves. Almost like the old Jonah, who collected rare albums.

Now he seemed to collect rare genes, and Sarah was not his only prize. Central to the main room was an unlit aquarium filled with thick liquid. Sarah softly tapped the glass, which prompted a pale shape to drifted out of the deep shadow. Its large head had only one full grown eye, the other in a fetal condition. Little arms tried swimming, but most of its movement came from the tail.

It pressed its one eye against the glass and Sarah leaned closer. Though with less options, this little creature expressed more in one moment than Jonah did over weeks. She'd gotten used to the chaotic mess of emotions it poured out, understood that the creature was too young to deal with advanced thought, and so just offered her own.

Jonah had messed up his bond with the queen chimera, she wanted to do this better.

This creature was the only survivor of the malformed eggs that Kirindi's sister would lay, when out of her tank. Like them, it was capable of the same mental bonds. Sarah's mind had been opened by Kirindi, she found it easy to take hold of the soft, frail presence of this eternal fetus.

Day by day, she added in memories to the feelings, telling bedtime stories to a entity that never slept, but was as a child. Sarah chose memories of happier times, but also made sure the creature understood their current position. She explained sadness, and endurance, and struggle. Most of all, hope, though she didn't know it did any good for one who had no chance to grow up ... yet.

Sometimes it had the ghost of a smile on unformed lips, and a small limb tried to wave when she left. Sometimes it didn't.

Maybe Sarah was just selfish, maybe she only needed to talk to someone, and that she wasn't ready yet to explain. She couldn't really afford distrust from this one being that still could offer unconditional love. In a world full of monsters, one monster was her anchor to humanity.

**· · · · ·**

Jonah's job never required him to interact with the incubation process. As Sullivan before him, he only provided hosts. Once he might have enjoyed that lack of frustration he now had, but with all the neurological tampering, he couldn't. Surprise could be pleasant, so now and then, or negative. When he was called into the xenomorph zone for the first time since the catastrophe, he bet on the latter.

Not having much emotions didn't stop him from fretting over why he could possibly be called in. The new scientific leader of Enigma II was a more reasonable man than Sullivan, so far. It _had_ to be serious, rather than just using him for venting, right?

After going through the tedious identification process, he entered with caution. Once, a shriek in the distance startled him. He had to force himself to relax and wished certain _instincts_ could be shut down too.

A few scientists passed him on the way, giving a curt nod and no words. He did the same, remembered hating them and could feel nothing now.

The empty room he was led to contrasted against the stark white of the facility, and the white it had been under Sullivan's room. Now it had been redecorated with dark paint and curtains. Family pictures had been lined up against the wall, a few children's paintings taped above them. Three worn stuffed animals sat besides the desk.

It unnerved Jonah, but as always, it had no intensity anymore. He only wondered whether the man would begin to miss caring about such things, would he take the anti-telepathy regimen.

A soft hiss to the right drew his attention. Through a small second door stepped Waltraud Malcolm; an middle aged Namibian man accompanied by a cyborg identical to him. To be more specific, identical to a clone that had been ordered from Jonah a few weeks before.

Maybe he should have taken another look at the new head of science, but it hadn't occurred to him. No curiosity to motivate him.

"Hello, mister Bayard. Please take a seat," Waltraud said. He dismissed the cyborg with a wave of his hand.

Jonah sat down, eyes on the other man.

Waltraud peered out of deep sockets and his bald head didn't help the hollowed out countenance. With a slow movement, he turned his computer off and walked around the desk, taking the chair next to Jonah.

He held out his hand for Jonah to shake, which he reluctantly did.

"I am Waltraud Malcolm, I am here to run this hellhole, and you might like to know this room is so insulated nobody can hear, not even Nuitar. So, tell me why you think you are on Enigma II?"

Was this a trick question?

His skepticism must have showed, because the doctor quickly added, "No, this isn't about the Amy. It is about why you were allowed to serve as a scientist at all."

Another thing Jonah tried to forget. "I made myself useful, doctor. Did my files get lost during the break out?"

It was true, he had been allowed some privileges like walking around, and had mildly befriended the man in charge of cloning. Jonah's natural intelligence combined with his now enhanced sensory perception had proved useful in the work with cloned bodies.

"Here is another question : did you never wonder why the Direction was so quick to replace Sullivan with me, rather than letting another scientist take charge?"

"Doctor Malcolm, I would greatly appreciate it if you would be clear. I have little knowledge as to what goes on beyond my own working space."

Waltraud leaned back and waited a few seconds in what seemed a deliberate dramatic pause to Jonah.

"They all go insane."

"Oh," Jonah said. It didn't convey the questions that raised in his mind.

"Enigma II is like an experiment on itself. You must have known about Sullivan's outbursts of anger. His personal vendetta against you resulted in choosing old friends of you as hosts. This is no procedure that the Direction would condone. I hope you understand this.

You know about Mr. Schrodinger as well. Amy 3 came aboard of Enigma and began influencing him. This was because he, like many others, already had been under a great deal of influence prior to her visit, making them easy targets."

Jonah tensed up. "Do you mean that Amy 2 has been—"

The man raised his hand in a gesture that he should be calm. "No. I suggest you read the history files of Enigma 2 soon. In your new position, you have access to them. You will learn interesting things."

"Such as what?"

"Regina Insolita. They key things about her are her potent ability to drive mad people and the self destructive nature of her genes. We cannot clone her, we cannot even dissect her make up. She regenerates like no other and learns from the people who she controls. We suspect she may be sapient, yet she never goes as far as outright prove it."

"Really? And why would you be bringing this to my attention now?"

**· · · · ·**

Normally people had synthetics to perform menial tasks, but the Direction wasn't keen on them, so it was little nobodies with robots who did the work. Aside of Sarah, there were two more, but she had not met them often.

She didn't mind, humans were ugly to her lately and she preferred solitude. Acting civil with other humans only reminded her of how phony her relaxed life had been, when school had been the biggest enemy. She had to lock herself into a pattern as stoic as the robots she directed to fix pipes and add oils and sweep spills.

Life didn't allow for much hope, yet she went on still because, well, she still wanted to survive. For now.

Her pager beeped to her give an unwelcome message.

"Miss Driscoll, your position has been changed to serve in the inner zone, sector 8."

"Just as I got used to this ..." she grumbled.

She finished her job and returned to the hardware maintenance center to find a cyborg awaiting her.

After the typical disinfection routine, this cyborg led her to the lower levels by elevator.

At first sight, the new area didn't look very different from the halls she was used to. White, sterile and with many locked doors. The familiar holes in the corners of each wall-end indicated that the frost blasters were installed here too. Such a nicely kept hell.

As she passed by a closed area, a flash overtook her with so much strength that it blurred her awareness of her own surroundings.

A wide hall with a translucent tank at the center, which contained a writhing dark mass of mashed up biomechanic parts.

The flash faded; she must've caught a mental image seen by someone inside.

The cyborg had walked on, she hurried to catch up. Similar flashes recurred at weaker intensity, and soon disappeared.

Two more elevator changes, and they ended up at an upside down train station. Rails hung on the ceiling and a short lift led to a hanging waiting chamber, complete with magazines for the bored waiting. A cabin was at the ready though, so she didn't have time to wonder at that human detail.

The cyborg replied to questions, when prompted. According to it, these rails had their own generator apart from Utara, so one could make their way out during an outbreak. Manual driving was an option.

They passed through darkness, but not silence. A few times shrieks came from deep below, and sometimes not so deep.

Below the sound lay something else; a hum without vibration; a sterile, monotone form of Kirindi's soft mental veil; two near identical but hostile ranges.

The true hiveminds shared by these beasts, belonging to different queens. She might never have noticed if she hadn't experienced Kirindi's unison before.

When the cabin finally halted, it shook her awake despite her not having slept.

Opening the door for her was Jonah. His eyes lingered on her face before he said, "You're pale. What happened?"

She stepped out on shaking feet, but declined the hand he held out.

The cyborg closed the door behind him and returned the way they'd come, by then Sarah had found her voice. "I'm alright, just a little spooked. Can I get something to drink?"

Down the waiting room was another vast darkness, filled with fog and heat.

He brought her to a small work kitchen, which surprised her with the messy and bright environment. Colorful magnets littered the fridge, a checkered cloth covered the table and most of the dishes had funny little patterns on them.

Jonah didn't need to be told what she liked, but she hadn't expected the fridge to actually produced her preferred soda.

Once she'd gulped it down, Jonah said, "You felt their hivemind, didn't you?"

No use denying it, so she nodded.

"That's part of why you're here. You can sense them, but it apparently doesn't madden you like it does to many others. No nightmares, suicidal tendencies, increased aggression. They like that. Thanks to that and Sullivan's, ahem, own aggression, good staff is hard to come by."

Oh. Bad news. They already had their attention on her.

"I suppose I should be happy my purpose no longer is being a host," she said with a sneer.

"Sarah, look ... this isn't about heroes and villains. It's just the powerful and those who oppose them. You have a little choice now in what you'll be, that's the best I can give you."

She couldn't look him in the eyes. Jonah reached for her hand, but she took a step back.

"If you don't mind, could you leave me alone?"

"Someone still needs to show you around here," he said. "Though, I suppose the janitors can do that."

She sat down and said, "Okay, I'll wait for them."

He wrung his hands, but then nodded and left without another word.

**· · · · ·**

It took about half an hour before a scruffy man stumbled through the door with an apologetic smile.

"Hello there, nice to meet you," he said, holding out his hand. "Call me Jay."

"Sarah will do," she said, unable to resist breaking her intended stoic facade. She couldn't quite shake the distrust, but it had been very long since she's seen an open face.

In the flurry of the man's entrance, she hadn't immediately noticed the other, more quiet man. He shook her hand as well and muttered, "I'm Bison."

She'd seen the men in glimpses, they'd been Sullivan's assistants somehow. If they were her future colleagues, that didn't bode well, but what _did_ in this place?

Jay gave the impression of unkempt with his messy hair, endlessly tired eyes and his coat tied around his waist to reveal a brightly colored t shirt. This was only in comparison to the local standard, though. Bison had a more subdued and professional look, and from a distance she could have sworn he was a woman; the long black hair didn't help. Both seemed from Asian descent, probably different countries, but she couldn't pin point which exactly.

"I understand you're joining our team, so how about we give you a tour?"

"Seeing as I understand exactly nothing about what I'm supposed to do, I'd appreciate that."

Sector 8 turned out to be all about the drone zoo. Having acquired (rather pricey) acid resistant alloys from other sapient species allowed some degree of security in keeping them together and observe their interaction.

Over time, drones would cover their cages with resin that took on biomechanical forms and functions, which was were Jay and Bison came in. They would harvest whatever segment the scientists had interest in, and ensure it was without acid, clean and delivered where it should be. They had three cyborg for security and assistance, but preferred to do work on their own.

They also kept track of the overall cleanliness of the lower levels, engine rooms included. Some sort of biomechanical equivalent to fungi had taken hold of damp spaces like the cooler rooms and frost reserves.

In addition, they did some low key maintenance on the cyborg's organic states. Just mandatory check ups, and fixing smaller problems. Someone up stairs handled bigger issues, but Bison took some very understated pride in avoiding that.

Down to it, they were all purpose janitors. Jay definitely fit the bill, but it became clear very quickly he had been learning. Most of everything he could name and explain correctly. Bison had a degree in microbiology, but rarely had to step in as Jay took Sarah's questions. In fact, he hardly said a word and when they walked past a corner with weird growth on it, he seemed to shut down and go into clean mode altogether.

Only after he had finished cleaning that away, and Jay had derailed into a story about fungi back on his former colony, did Bison really look at her.

"So ... this stuff here leans to you a little. Are you telepathic?"

He held out the growths, just a few centimeters of weirdness contained in a placticide case. Sarah didn't see anything unusual about it.

"Ehm ... no. I would have noticed ..." she said.

"Are you sure?" Bison asked. "Maybe you've become it."

"You know, that _would_ explain your sudden transfer her," Jay said. "I was added to fill a void, but there's no clear reason why you're here. Unless they want you close to the drones."

**· · · · ·**

Jonah watched for a little through the cameras in the security base, seeing Sarah become friendly with strangers. When Waltraud entered, he turned them off, but it was too late.

"We have a surveillance system for security reasons, mister Bayard, not for this."

He said nothing, just waited without knowing what for.

"You know, I'd almost say your treatment isn't sufficient, if you feel compelled to do something like this."

Jonah shook his head. "Not a feeling, just ... the memory of it. I wasn't going to watch till I saw her smile, then I decided to see. I'm not ... I'm not getting the memories of how we used to be flooding in, I have to evoke them, but at the same time it's something I want. Still. I've been formed as an emotional human being. That hasn't changed."

"Are you testing whether you feel something, or thinking you need torture?"

"I don't know. I think she hates me, but right now it only registers as wrong without making me upset. If I ever get off this station, maybe all I would have felt will come crashing down. Maybe I'm watching it to make sure it hits home."

"Ah, I see. The structure of conscience can exist without the feeling of guilt, indeed. Maybe she will learn that emotions are a luxury here, too.

"I hope not," he said, unsure whether it was actual hope or something else. "It's not ... it shouldn't be a luxury."

"I'd say the option to even turn off emotions in a human being is a luxury, here. Isn't that how you survived Amy II? If my guess is right, ..."

He never finished the sentence, but Jonah thought he should have. If he couldn't make sense of himself, he needed the help of others, but he lacked both curiosity and motivation to make it happen.

**· · · · ·**

_February 27, 2578_

**· · · · ·**

After three days of quiet instruction from Bison, Sarah was allowed on her first solo cleansing routine. A few days in, this was just about to settle into a comfortable routine when she was ordered to clean up an observation passage of individual drone cages.

Jay had told her to ignore the drones and she intended to do so, but really, she couldn't escape the hivemind anyway and she had incentive to better her potential. Even before she entered the hall, she could sense the creature. No others were around, just this one.

The fungi had latched onto a harmless spot on the wall and shouldn't take long to clean, but she made slow work.

Reaching out to this drone wasn't like with the unborn in Jonah's room, but close enough.

The drone behind the glass followed her every move, pacing past the glass window and contemplating her death. Her, the enemy human.

It was a response alright, but she could not tell to what degree and she hated to be lumped in with the Enigma scientists. She was a victim here, like the creature.

Not that she could honestly blame the drones. They had no sapience, no reasoning.

In that respect, she cautioned herself against favoring them. Would they get out, _these_ drones would kill everyone without distinction for victim and criminal.

As if to cement that, it launched itself at the glass in frustration. Sarah flinched back, but didn't turn around to look at it; just kept scraping loose the fungus.

The drone collided with the glass and sunk back, hissing.

"You waste energy," Sarah said after a moment of calming her heartbeat.

It gave a peculiar little hiss at that, almost like begging to disagree.

She got the sense that if it did it, it might as well never move until there was the chance for escape. Anger at least was something : a distraction from the inability to perpetuate the hive.

These weren't her thoughts, she realized, but she couldn't tell whether the creature gave them to her, or whether she picked them up on her own.

What did make her stop and turned was a distinct click on the other end of the drone's chamber. A hatch opened there, and the lights brightened. A camera outside the chamber switched on to record.

Odd, Jay would have told her if they meant to do a test right now. Though, it made sense, since the drone was alone here and some tests required isolation.

She pulled out her mobile and contacted Jay for details. He swiftly sent an explanation.

There hadn't been a test planned indeed, but this one would double as waste disposal somehow, so it had been rescheduled earlier. Rather more suddenly that he was used to, he added.

This drone was subject to a test to suppress their sense of smell, which was achieved by adding a specific acid to the xenomorph's bloodstream that messed them up. In its stead, hearing became even more accurate, similar to how a blind humans hearing increased. With disabling scent, the scientists hoped to get rid of one of the impulses that made drones crave for food. They did not need food, so feeding perhaps was a side-effect of the DNA Reflex.

A cloud of oddly blackish gas filled the drone's cell. A fascinating invention it was, the gas would condense only in a certain heat level and the plasticide was too cold for it. Though drones had no infrared signature, they did have internal heat. They didn't breath either, but the tiny layer of acid that condensed on their frontal lip and inner mouth was enough to do the job. From there on, it leaked into their bloodstream and damaged the scent-organs from the inside — cheaper than tying them down and trying needles.

She felt a tiny jab of pain on her own upper lip.

Next up would be something edible, which now tumbled out of the open hatch.

Sarah's mouth dropped and she covered it with a hand.

It was a human, albeit terribly malformed. One of Jonah's clones.

The poor thing crawled over the ground, wailing like an infant. The arms flayed about, the head wobbled on the neck; like a fish thrown onto the dry land.

The sting of tears almost made Sarah turn away; this was worse than what she'd seen in Jonah's laboratory. In the tanks, they hadn't moved.

The drone, as expected, did not move to attack, but Sarah hardly saw it anymore.

Only the pale thing at the other end of the cell existed, covered in blue veins and cancerous growth. It would never be fit to serve as a host, but so ... they had other uses.

"Kill it, please," she whispered, but the drone didn't respond. It found her more interesting; killing that thing, now that was a true waste of energy.

Sarah's eyes fixed on the form as it tried to crawl back into the hatch ... it could reason, then. Fragments of fear seeped into her mind, she saw the drone from another angle, felt its hostility radiate to the bone.

Worse than the beast was the body itself. Nothing fit together, and nausea clawed itself up her throat. Its throat. Her own?

"End it," she whispered again. It was so simple for the drone, it was in its instinct, it had to do it. "You were made to kill. Do it."

Made to kill indeed. She pushed and pushed, it had to be, the drone had to kill, it had to end or they'd keep reusing the clone ...

It took long, but the drone stood up at last. Too slow for Sarah's wishes, it paced around the clone and turned it over, inspecting.

Looking for its head, which it couldn't make it easily. Once it had identified that though, a quick pierce with its tongue ended it.

Sarah had expected to feel the wound, but she didn't. Maybe she had imagined it all.

The drone started to eat, yet the queasiness left her like it had never boiled up. She stood still, waiting for it to return and watching the carnage.

**· · · · ·**

Waltraud sat back in his seat and avoided Jonah's gaze, instead focusing on the two screens before him. One on the drone in the cell, another hidden one on Sarah.

"That was pointlessly cruel," Jonah said.

"It was an experiment, they tend to be cruel in these regions, unfortunately. No experiment is pointless here. Our benefactor is generous, but not so generous was get to play."

Jonah closed his eyes. "She might figure out we are watching her, if her telepathy grows so strong she can command a drone like that."

"Good. You see, when I said she'd lose her emotions, I meant that in the human way. Our way. Perhaps she'll adopt their way instead. Won't that be interesting?"

"Why was she really transferred, doctor Malcolm?"

"Hmm ... Nuitar requested it."

**· · · · ·**


	14. Mental Mirages

**· · · · · · ·**

_March 18, 2578_

_Location : Enigma II_

**· · · · · · ·**

High expectations from movies and comics made growing telepathy an intense let down. No neat mind voices, no clear images, no distinctions or lines, no amazing projection of powers into other minds. Often, she had no way to tell whether something was her own thoughts or someone else's. Outside information came as naturally as invase thoughts; as a human she had no experience with what information to process and what to discard. As it turned out, there was a whole lot of more energetic information about living beings that just conscious thought; the one thing blocked by those infernal chips.

It wasn't unusual for her to walk into the kitchen, driven by hunger, only to realize it wasn't _her_ hunger. Jay and Bison had started to notice her appearances always coincided with their presence. Given the fact they both had anti-telepathy chips, they initially were skeptical, but they weren't dense. People didn't survive on Enigma II if they didn't have the minds to match the environment.

Though, they didn't fare very well if they lacked the heart for it. Jay and Bison just understood they had to be useful, but they refused the drugs that dulled emotions and had their limits. Not only did that mean Sarah had an easier time reconciling getting along with them, it also meant they didn't report her oddities.

Well, if she were fair, the latter mattered more than she wanted to admit. Jay and Bison had assisted Sullivan in _something_ down there. They probably still worked on it, because sometimes they'd just disappear for a few hours with no report on their whereabouts, but she'd _know_ they were deep below. However, loathing people for something she couldn't see was hard, especially when they were friendly and human.

Sometimes she wondered whether she'd hate Jonah less, if he still felt like a person. Oftentimes, this was exactly when she left her new room to wander out, timed with the other two residents. How long had she been like this, while living up there in Jonah's quarters, not noticing her newfound senses? Not noticing how unusual it was that little fetus thing leaned into her mentally?

Now she was distant of both, but near two _more human_ beings, things stood out more, whether it be resenting Jonah or reaching for an unborn chimera. She didn't know what to do with this information, just like she didn't know anything useful to do with her newfound sensory perception or the things it planted in her mind.

What she did know was her new, tedious but more productive job. Initially she'd been kept on for Jonah's work and couldn't contribute much. Jonah had the education already and didn't need help, much, save perhaps train a successor. Sarah dreaded that idea, so she was more content down here.

Jay and Bison worked ten levels down most of the time, but they had their room up here, as Sarah did now. She had daily company that wasn't emotionally stunted, and also ... people to learn with. They had chips in their head that made telepathic suggestion and expulsion harder, but not impossible. It wasn't uncommon for Bison, the more naturally curious of the two, to test her.

Bison was a nickname, and it had taken ten days before he did more than just reply to her questions. The first real conversation they had were on his suspicions she was developing telepathy, during which he suggested small tests.

Today, he was setting mugs on the shelf when she entered, careful to have the most colorful sides to the front. That was typically Jay's doing, so Bison was up to something.

"Hey, Sarah. You're early. I put something in one of them, which is it?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Whatever you put in there isn't important."

Some objects could retain signature, but that only helped if it was unique and intense. An object of deep personal value was easier to recognize than a card with an arbitrary number on it, and one might have an easier time picking up someone's beloved memory, than the random documentary they were watching. The typical telepathy tests always fell flat because they didn't even ask for needles in haystacks to be found, they asked for specific _straws_.

He looked a little disappointed.

"I can tell you that we're probably eating Sambar, though."

That got a smile.

"You _are_ getting better," he said. "But not good enough. Sambar's for tomorrow. Today we're having Rajma. Similar letters though. Do you pick up flavors, sensations, verbal stuff?"

She had no idea. She didn't even have words for it, aside of telepathy.

Jay's Rajma once again confirmed his cooking skill, but she didn't have much appetite. She rarely had, when she so often got random information floating into her mind. It wasn't like it demanded attention. She wanted to make sure what were her own thoughts and which were not, and she wanted to test her limits.

"She got it almost right today," Bison said after Jay had finished stacking things in the sink and joined them; he compulsively did this before anything.

"Oh, did she?"

"You're making Sambar tomorrow, right?" Sarah asked.

"N—" Before he got it out, Bison shot him a look. "Yes. You're not ... you're not supposed to know that."

"I keep telling you, this whole paranormal fields thing is far more complicated than just blocking a tiny section of your brain," she said.

"Right," Jay said in a voice so stiff it could rival concrete. "Anyway, ehm, we're going to have some time off tomorrow, why don't you two help me make some things?"

Jay always had bowls of pantua, poli, chhena gaja and idli ready. However, he was rather particular about the quality and never needed nor asked for help in preparing them.

"That's a first," Sarah said. "And why are we having time off?"

"She's probably catch it if it happens anyway," Bison said.

"Catch what?"

Bison nudged his head at the mugs. "My chip either works better than Jay's, or didn't actually try to see whether there was something worth picking up."

Sarah jumped up, went to the shelf and grabbed into the mugs until she found a little paper.

Neatly typed out, it read; _Tomorrow, Regina Insolita's children will be born_. Following this were the times, procedures and names of those afflicted. At the end, Bison had typed she might want to try the emotional suppressant drugs this one time. Just in case death leaked into her dreams.

Bison meant to warn her, probably out of kindness, and Sarah did have a sinking feeling at the imminent death, but ...

"Who is Regina Insolita?" she asked, but she had a sneaking suspicion, or perhaps no suspicion at all. The mother of Odygos.

"A particularly weird queen," Bison said.

Jay fidgeted with his fingers. "She's usually frozen, but they're waking her now to make her lay a new batch of eggs. Sullivan never took it well when that happened, so I guess maybe we should warn you. I just thought it would help to distract you. Y'know, happier people are less affected by xeno madness."

"I won't go mad," Sarah said, too calm but successful at hiding the tiny spike of excitement.

**· · · · · · ·**

That night, Sarah dreamed about herself, or someone else steered the dream for her. In almost methodical way, she got the answer to why she lived at all.

A regular brain would dissolve in a way due to the rapid decomposition of a crucial element, for some reason this had not happened with her. Somehow, she had been infected by nanoscopic agents that belonged to the mother of Odygos. Had he done it, or had she been ... incubated?

The humans had kept her around for research as it had been proved a dead body could still be used as host, when they had tried to reanimate the useful parts of her, she had woken up. Well, that had explained the weird "sickbay". Jonah had lied his ass when he tried to sell her that.

If she had been incubated, they would have found an embryo growing within her, though.

She tried to learn more, but for a long time she wandered around through sterile halls. Slowly, dim smudges of pain waved up, until it felt like water crashing just outside the walls.

In the morning she woke up, probably, and went through the routine of her day.

Hours passed in a daze. She went through her work, responded when spoken to, and ignored the worried looks of the humans. She didn't help cooking, she just did her duty and swam through a lake of minds.

_They were her children, but they died at her call. Her command had them kill themselves when they could, swift quick death, then the humans stopped them._

Pieces of conversation drifted by. "The rest simply dropped over and died. Sarah ... Sarah, are you listening?"

That was probably Jay.

_Not giving up, rather, saving them pain and preventing the humans from learning. She still waited, these drones were not needed. No point in letting them suffer. Adverse to let the humans have them._

Sarah's lower lip shivered, but she showed no other sign of shock ... shock for what? Grief for the dead children, of herself, or of the queen? Did being pointless make them discardable, or was this a true mercy kill?

_The present matters. Future is nonexistent, relative. They were not needed. Only_ now _they lived._

The Mother had been here all along, since before she took her second breath of life.

"~If they are not needed, you will let them die. Am I needed?~" Sarah thought.

The moment she asked her question, the sea pulled her under.

Assurance, in some form, ebbed up her mind. No force, just suggestion. Sarah's initial distrust remained, which had it's own way of comforting, her mind was her own still.

_Be my child._

It wasn't water that surrounded her, but a thicker fluid. A veil of safety that almost suffocated her, but never quite. Sarah curled up and almost let herself shrink smaller, but that would come at a cost of ...

No, she was an adult. Merely feeling safe didn't help her, she needed something better than this.

"I'm not submitting," she said.

The water sank away, leaving her standing on a single slimy rock.

Toxic mist surrounded her, and somehow she remember that this was Terra Mirror. The chimera had been found here, but there was no trace of life now.

Sarah did not breathe, she did not have to. She remembered that too.

And finally, she remembered a name like she had heard it already.

"You're here, I know it," she said, her voice rising. "Noasyvé!"

Something wet forced itself into her shoes, and she staggered. Below her, the rock turned to mush and sucked her in.

She didn't panic, because she also remembered, somehow, that nothing could kill her here. Rather, she observed with interest as her feet merged with the matter.

"This isn't nice, you know," she whispered.

In the water before the rock, a woman's face made of muck emerged. The face smiled, but the empty eyes only painted that unsettling.

_Then what do you want?_

"You're in my mind already, you have no need to ask that," said Sarah, an edge of annoyance in her voice.

_But you like it when I individualize you_.

"But it's a lie."

_Not entirely_.

"If my choice is between free will and being a drone, I'd rather stick with the old."

_But not all is black and white._

"But what is all, hmm?"

A sudden jerk pulled Sarah deeper into the liquid rock and the face rose out, now a detached mask floating eye to eye with Sarah.

_You only need your absolute individuality because that is what makes a human strong, but not all is human and you are certainly not limited to being a human._

Sarah looked away and tried to cross her arms, only to raise droplets instead of arms.

_Privacy, why? To hide your embarrassing secrets, to sort things out on your own? If you are not just one but a part of the others as well, shame would no longer exist. Your secrets, their secrets, they would only be for those outside of us. I do not plead for loss of your individuality and interdependence. I am with you because I need you for those_.

Sarah sighed. "But you do place a black and white. Us, and our enemies."

The face opened its mouth a little, producing laughter without sound.

_Not black and white. One formation. Another formation. And many other formations. Will you not see?_

"Could you not at least have asked me before entering my mind?"

_Your subconscious invited me, you needed and need me. Here I am_.

Sarah had no more throat to scream with, and could only remember her own questions. The mask laughed, not unkind, as she fell like water into the marsh.

She was still there as much as before.

A vast grassy plain surrounded her, once more she stood on a rock without an idea how she got there. High white clouds contrasted themselves against azure

There was an endless grassy plain around her and again she stood on a rock, this one covered with soft moss. The sky was many shades of green and littered with stars and nebula.

_Run, my child_.

She _did_ want to run. After cropped up in the void so long, she _needed_ it. Maybe it was taking the hand of a dangerous creature, but just a little. She could take just a little bit of this. Who knew if she'd ever see it again.

Her first step off the rock was slow, but as she felt the grass brush against her now bare legs, she broke into a run. Still Sarah, but she no longer wore the restrictive laboratory clothes nor the stench of cleaning fluids.

Faster and faster until the rush of the grass was only one touch on her skin, she was sure she was no human anymore; no human could be this fast. Faster than the clouds, it did not take her long to reach the edge of the horizon.

There she had to stop, because the world turned out to be a mere wall of the black abyss. It stared back, of course. They abyss always did, even if it had no eyes in its crested head.

The abyss — the Mother — the Motion's Bride — Noasyvé — almost disappointing her. A mere xenomorph queen, perhaps a little more regal. She stood on four legs rather than two, her shell had a dark pearly sheen to it, which marked her apart from the starts reflecting on her. This form didn't look like enough to encompass all she promised to be.

"Hello, ancient grave," Sarah said.

The abyss did not respond, but reached out one of its smaller arms and pointed to the other end of the horizon. Sarah turned, and stood on the other end without a single step. The plain had become a little blotch of sand at her feet, soaking with water as it grew into a rainforest.

Chirps of birds surrounded her and the rumble of a herd of beasts sounded in the distance. From the shrubs, a gargoyleosaurus emerged. As it passed by, it said, "Climb."

So she climbed the nearest tree and when it ran out of branches, she went to the roots of the next forest giant and climbed that. She didn't count how many trees she climbed, but time seemed very kind today. When she had climbed the last tree, there was a plateau before her. She stepped off the branch and the jungle became a heap of leaves at her feet.

_Go talk to your friend._

Sarah nodded, and quietly told herself she only cooperate because she was so curious.

_To the truth_.

Sarah sank into the plateau and liquefied. Again she broke apart, but now motion was more fragmented and clear, and she could take it step by step. When she found the exit, she reformed in a sandstone chamber, quite barren.

A smile broke on her face when she saw who was in the room.

Kirindi sat on the floor, cleaning some bones, but she looked up at once.

"Sarah! You came, you came!" she said, jumping to her feet and embracing Sarah. "I missed you! I kept calling, but you didn't answer and the Mother was sleeping!"

Sarah took Kirindi at her shoulders and pushed her away gently to look her in the eyes. "I think you missed you too ... you mean your Mother?"

"Your Mother! Don't you know? But come, you have to meet the others, we are happy here! They wait for you!"

Kirindi took Sarah at the arm and pulled her into the wall. Both of them fell apart, but Sarah had become used to it. When they reassembled, they were deep in the water. With powerful strokes, Kirindi swam to a xenomorph unlike any Sarah had seen before. Brown, quadruped, feathered ...

"Who is that?" Her words didn't get a response.

_She'll only feel. She cannot reach far yet, not when I am under the veil._

The underwater hive was not as easy to cross as the plain and rainforest. It seemed to be more real to her and hence harder to grasp. Or perhaps it was that she felt less...

"Why did you bring me here?"

_To show you Kirindi, my creation, of course. She already is my child._

**· · · · · · ·**

"She just dropped over, I don't understand why," Jay said. "Could just be stress."

"Maybe," Jonah said. "I'll take it from here, you go back to your work."

"Okay, but—"

"Leave."

**· · · · · · ·**

Astral projection turned out to be another thing not quite like in the stories. For starters, there was no projection of the soul. Her own body radiated the same life as always, but hyper aware of the surrounding. There were no clear colors, and not all outlines were equally sharp, except for her own body.

She didn't stand at its side as much as she knew the surrounding. Looking at herself worked, but it didn't mean much when she was just at a wider space at the time. It only felt like leaving one's body, she presumed, if dissociation set in.

"~ Why am I here? I wanted to stay with Kirindi. ~"

_There is another one to be like you. He is not ready to meet me. Kirindi had to go. You will meet her later. Again. We are a secret too, you see_.

"~ I see your point, but not this form I am in now,~" she said.

The door opened, and flashes of another sight seeped into her mind. Colors became clearer and outlines sharper as she picked up things from another human mind.

One other human mind, even though two entered. Waltraud in the flesh, and ... Jonah. He was nigh unreadable, with his strange eyes, his neurological chip and his emotional suppressants. More than ever did he seem foreign to her.

_He is no stranger. This man loves you because he always did, and now more because you remind him._

"~ He is Jonah, but I can't love him. He is like Humans. ~" That came out too easily.

_He is surviving. He is useful. He is their enemy_.

"~ Do you need him, Noasyvé? ~"

_Not now. Do you hate him?_

"~ Not always, ~" she said with a sigh. "~ So, what's up with me? I was dead, I live. How? ~"

_The orincubix used during Kirindi's visit here, they were my children. You do not remember being impregnated. I disabled the embryo and directed the nano-agent to enhance you_.

Sarah stuck a toe through the floor, which rippled like water, but only in her own mind. "So. I am not very human anymore already. I am yours already. Liar. I have no choice in this, do I?"

_I give you a choice because I can. It is convenient if you serve me without my direct command. Yes, I could force you and I will force you to serve me if you refuse. I cannot hold your discomfort at momentary loss for freedom higher than my continued lack of freedom for years to come. Should you hold it higher, when I am your best chance at getting off this hell?_

Aside of her reflection on the floor, or the lake, a woman with dark skin and black hair all the way stood at her side. Sarah thought the woman smiled, but it was hard to see, and nobody really stood there.

Waltraud and Jonah were at the bedside of her physical form, taking a bloodsample. They spoke in a hushed voice, only about technical things.

_They won't find anything._

The reflection held out her hand. Sarah didn't take it, she just narrowed her eyes, or at least had the impression she did.

"~ Why does it matter what I choose? ~"

_I am practical, as are you, and I will have the best result from cooperation. Let me prove it, for I ended up here because I forced one._

She did need to know what to expect, and so Sarah leaned over and took the shadow's hand. The touch brought the urge to let herself be absorbed, which Sarah resisted as much as the monster herself.

They broke apart like grains in the wind, falling out of the station into the void of space. After a far time falling, they rained down on a planet and sank deep into the ground.

Sarah reeled from the sensory forces, the loss of her body's sensations and the sight that was both intense yet devoid of colors and sounds. As knowing everything so intricately that those became irrelevant, but she could not see them if she tried. Her host and guide did not deem them as important.

They were in a reserve, their focus on a cell of a hunter alien. Their name was yautja, and this one had been an outcast, a badblood. The criminal of a culture of serial killers, worst of the worst.

He bled from unbound wounds and bad implants, the stench of infection all around him. She dimly knew he had developed an allergy to certain things, he wasn't _normal_ anymore ...

As prone as the body was, so vivid was the mind. Violence and bloodlust radiated off the murderer. He never looked up, but the rattle of the mandibles intensified.

He knew Noasyvé was here.

"Failing failing failing, stupid! You are all! Nothing is really alive, cause it all dies? You? You? You? You? You? You? You you you! Stop hurting ..." Sarah didn't actually hear anything, but she knew the meaning of what he said.

"What did you do to him, Noasyvé?"

"Syva? Syva? Syva is her name?" growled the yautja, crawling up at last. It glared around, at nothing.

_Meke'tor. I needed him; I forced him, but his weak organic brain could not deal with it. I kept him alive until his chemicals and synapses could no longer respond to my command. He is insane. This happens to all those forced to obey through the telepathy of a Queen. That is why I try persuasion._

The yautja's attempts to stand up failed and he dropped to the ground. "Hear!" he growled, before curling into a ball.

_He is at fault that I was captured. I do not blame him, nor resent him. He has his own mother to serve and he did it well. His betrayal was unpredictable, it led me right to the worst place to be, as inspired by the wife of the path._

"Hmm. What's your point of bringing me here?"

_Look at him. What a downfall for one such as myself, ha! I had no idea what he might do not merely by my pride, but because I do not make a habit out of mind control, you see. I had used his clan to retrieve the eggs from hence Kirindi and her sisters were born. When my enemy came, I believed he would be easily controlled into steering the ship safely from the planet._

_I prepared a nest within the ship to transport my new children, he closed it off and we left. I do not know to what extent my enemy might have influenced him or not, but here I am. He led me to the humans and to the one entity that can hold me down in this weak condition._

Sarah wanted to embrace herself, lock out everything, but she had no body. She only could float, just be here to watch the wretched thing. Pity in her heart fought against knowledge in her mind; should it matter that this was a ruthless killer? Noasyvé had not destroyed anyone who deserved to live, and one serial killer less meant more innocents surviving ... right? There was no telling that much, though. For all she knew, this thing would have by chance killed some crime lord and thus collapsed a mob society or something.

The only thing that should matter to her was the admission of weakness. If not for the right reasons, Noasyvé made a point that she wouldn't resort to outright mind control again. Still, the line between obeying to save her own sanity, and obeying because the monster understood the negative effects of forcing someone, ... it was thin as a hair.

There was no guarantee that Noasyvé's promise of softer guidance would not render her some other form of insane. On the other hand, both of them wanted the same thing, and her bets were better with a sapient and indifferent monster than the malicious humans.

More importantly, _if_ Kirindi was indeed somehow endorsed by Noasyvé, then Noasyvé must see some value in humanity. The difference between the sisters was stark, and Sarah knew Kirindi to at least be genuinely loving.

_Would you like to see the options for the chimera children? Soon you can experiment by yourself, and see what my choices were, knowing Ti'chai-di was grown without influence, and Kirindi with mine. Make your own call, we have time so far._

_Learn what it is to be my child._

The stars faded and the black formed again, taking away all dimension. Enfolding her, Sarah became seed and entered the womb. The moment she did this, Noasyvé let go all control of her. Now, the fluid didn't feel oppressive anymore. Only comfortable. She wouldn't mind staying in this form ...

**· · · · · · ·**

Karga'te looked down at the sleeping Kirindi, who would not wake despite him shaking her. She just turned over and continued sleeping with a mild smile.

It wasn't the first time she wouldn't wake up so easily and he had tricks, but those could take long.

Behind him, Ti'chai-di chuckled; it sounded like wheezing but she made no effort to mentally disguise the meaning. She looked forward to seeing him try and fail.

"Oh really? If I'm going to fail, why don't _you_ try to do it better?" he said, looking back at her.

She replied with a toothy grin, or the idea of it; without lips he only knew she grinned because of the idea behind it. Nope.

She turned away oh so elegantly, scraping a few stones off the wall in the process and nearly knocking Karga'te off his feet. He ducked in time.

"Excellent. Just excellent! You know, if she doesn't wake up, you'll be the one to join me on the shift!"

Something like hiccups came from the retreating monster.

Karga'te barked back, "Oh I know how much you _like_ that, don't pretend!"

"What the hell do I have to do to make you corporate, you stupid hardmeat!?" he roared out.

He clenched his mandibles together to keep himself from shouting anymore. She'd just laugh more.

Damn Shadhahvar for her drunken moods. Amusement was one of the first human things Ti'chai-di picked up on, and this came with gloating.

Karga'te blamed the fact that Kirindi was sleeping so long lately on her sister's increased mental activity. It didn't actually tire him, but then again he was not fully exposed.

Something jumped on him from behind. Surprised that he hadn't felt her wake up so suddenly, Karga'te looked up. Kirindi had settled on his shoulders as usual and peered down into his eyes. "Who's been learning you to wake without me knowing it?" he said, trying to act angry and failing as his anger ebbed away under Kirindi's mental touch.

"People I meet in my dreams," she said happily.

Weird, but he shrugged it off. "Because of you we are late now. Get your gear and let's go."

"Ti'chai-di says she wants to join us anyway."

"Oh indeed? And why would I let her?"

"Please?"

"No, really. Why?"

"Please?"

"Not good enough." With a grin, he picked her off his shoulders and put her on the ground. "Get your gear, now."

"Please?"

"Good luck explaining why not to Ti'chai-di," he said, while shoving her out of the door softly. He closed the door behind her.

While Kirindi and her sister mentally linked to share their experiences despite separation, Karga'te stepped into their den. There he knelt down and hovered a hand over the place she had been sleeping.

His attempts to pick up any energetic prints got him nothing. He grumbled to himself, he hadn't gotten much better with reading psychic residue. He didn't even really know how to get better at it. It existed, he was pretty sure, but that was it.

Ti'chai-di knew how to hide parts of her mind, insofar she saw reason. He had picked up that much during shared dreams about some guy named Jonah, whom she hated. For him, she had secrets. Might she and Kirindi have others? He had no real evidence, just an inkling ...

There were hundreds of dolls here, all custom made, all people whom she had wanted to keep. Most had eyes made from nuts, knots and pearls, even when their actual species didn't. Except for this one, and two others at least.

Kirindi entered the room again, fully in her armor now. She glomped him from behind and he nearly toppled over. Placing a hand on the ground to keep steady, Karga'te said, "After this shift, you can let me meet your new friend."

She didn't say yes.

**· · · · · · ·**


	15. Womb Wall

**· · · · · · ·**

_March 25, 2578_

_Location : Enigma II_

**· · · · · · ·**

"Where are we going?" Sarah asked as she followed Bison out the door.

"Nothing important," he said. "I just figured it'd help if you knew how to synthesize hormones."

"What?"

"I have to make my own down there, since they don't bother ordering them for me or doing it up there. I can't be around all the time though. It'll help if I can ask someone to run down there while when I can't. Jay already knows how, but it'll help if there's more people."

Bison always asked for favors, that he took yes for granted meant something was up. Sarah didn't argue, she was more curious than worried.

He brought her several levels down, to a location she hadn't been before. The moment they entered an until section, when the door locked behind them, Bison turned around.

"Here's the deal. Sullivan worked on a project together with Nuitar, which Utara tolerates because it has a stake in it, but it can shut it down if it feels like it. Utara, Barat, Timur and Selatan are all created by Enigma Zero, which is headed but not completely controlled by Naseim Rajaei. Nuitar is ... I'm not sure what exactly, but it wasn't part of Utara's system from the start. A colleague of Rajaei had insisted it be installed. With it came Sullivan. Utara is aware of our project and wants part of it, but many of the humans up there don't know what's up. Right now, Jay and I are the only ones who do."

Right. On this ship, everyone was an obligate criminal sooner or later.

"And now you want me to get involved in whatever this project is. Utara transferred me here, why even bother with the secrecy? You could as well drop this bomb over breakfast."

Bison held up his hands in a placating gesture. "You were transferred to a lower section because Malcolm wanted you near the drones to see whether you were sensitive to them. You went into a coma while those drones died. They have definite proof now. If it were up to Malcolm and Utara, you'd be strapped in a cage and used to experiment in controlling the drones. You have no idea how long they've been hoping to find a natural telepath and you just dropped into their hands.

Please cooperate. It's not so bad down here. I don't know what Nuitar wants with you, but from what I've been told it won't be as bad as what Utara's half will do. You'll be able to go around in the same way as you've done with us so far, you just work here now."

"Not so bad? Then why did I need to come here to be told? If Utara knows about this, you could have done it upstairs. Unless it gets messy if I refuse."

His eyes widened. "No, no, that's not it. You won't be killed if you refuse."

"But I may be locked up?"

"It's not that either. It's be inconvenient, but you won't be cleaned up or anything. It's Malcolm. He doesn't know. The reason someone like him wasn't here all along is because, well, this project requires a mad scientist kind of person. Malcolm isn't quite that. He has the good of mankind in mind and sometimes, he or Jonah watch you. It's suspicious if Utara suddenly would not be able to report on you in a section she covers."

A sinking feeling overtook Sarah. She'd known there was constant observation, but had relegated that to standard security by a program. Not _people_.

Damn it, Jonah knew how she felt about having her privacy invaded! The idea to get away from that in itself was appealing.

Not that it'd be real privacy, aboard this ship, but then again she had a monster queen in the back of her mind. Said monster had promised a project to find out how reliable she was. Did that mean she was aboard with Nuitar, or did she plant the idea in the minds of the right people?

"Sarah?"

"I'm thinking," she said. "If I refuse, I take it I will be made to somehow?"

"Well, Nuitar doesn't have _that much_ leeway. It can, probably, but Utara's half a mind to just let Malcolm experiment with you. The reason you're here is only on the gamble that your telepathy is well enough to help us not waste time."

Now she was really curious. "Waste time on what?"

"Useless growth."

With that, Bison opened the next door and held it open.

Sarah held her breath, but didn't hesitate to step into the darkness. Bison followed.

The scanners and guards she expected weren't here. The door locked behind her and that was it for security.

Pitch black blocked visual sight, but the torrent of pained sensation crashing into her mind told her enough. She stumbled against the door, instinctively trying to back away.

"Oh, you're getting that much?" Bison said somewhere ahead of her. "It's a good sign ... for the the project, I mean. I guess it's not for you."

Sarah clutched her forehead and tried to still her frantic breathing. "It's ... nothing ..." She closed her eyes. "... just wasn't prepared. Where are we?"

"In Utara's future brain," Bison said with a weak smile.

Say what now?

"She wants to become an organism," Bison said. "Nobody likes to be left behind, she says. As for Nuitar, I'm in the dark as much as you."

Bison switched on the lights, revealing a room full of cryogenic containers. Each was filled with bizarre, biomechanics growths. A few resembles fetuses, but most were just pipes, organs, rough square things and other unidentifiable forms. Despite being in cryogenic freezing, they radiated distorted mental signals.

_Maybe it wasn't mental, just a field that the mind happened to be part of ..._

She shivered, feared something without even knowing the direction. Little pieces of universe around her ...

In the middle of this mess, something familiar ...

Bison shook her shoulder, worried now. "Sarah, this would be a bad time to go into another coma. Please stay awake."

He seemed to talk to himself more than anyone.

She stood straight and said, "I was never in a coma. Your technology just wasn't good enough to tell where my brain was active."

The certainty with which she said this didn't feel justified, because she wouldn't be able to tell where the activity had been. A memory not her own suggested it had been her entire body, but that couldn't be right.

Bison showed her around again. There wasn't much to see, just a few wide rooms. One storage of material, two for various experiments, one for storing specialized tools, and last a tall room with a smaller observation post. In this they entered, looking across the opposite wall.

Hive resin littered this one from top to bottom, shaped into hollow cocoons at random intervals.

"Thise here work like the hive resin that hosts are encased in by regular xenomorph hives. However, they do a few things they shouldn't do."

"Like the violation of preservation of mass?" Sarah asked, looking up from the screen.

"Nah, all biomechanic things do that. No, this stuff here is meant to keep things alive well beyond what you'd expect of the typical incubation host. The running theory is that this queen adapted for a world where hosts take long to incubate the specimen, like the lepers would stagnate growth altogether. There are divergent theories, but one thing is clear : we can use them as life chambers."

"And you need me for ..."

"Checking whether the neurology stuff actually works like a mind. We can give these things a rough kick to grow things, but we don't have the technology to read it."

Sarah nodded. Being a monitor didn't sound too bad.

"So, where do I start?"

He led her to the elevator, which led to a changing cabin.

Sarah had no eye for the tools and suits in here, because in the middle of the cabin stood a small cylinder full of fluid, hooked up to a support system. Inside was the same kind of creature as in Jonah's quarters.

The exact same one.

And she didn't move.

"What happened?" she asked.

"It just died," he said. "Not so long after those drones did and you toppled over. Incidentally. It far as the humans know, it was disposed of, but Utara delivered it here. Now, if I'm not mistaken, you know something about coming back from the dead."

Ideas whirled around in her mind, leading back to the suggestion she had been infected.

"Coming back doesn't tell me how, but I do want to bring her back if I can. Did this delivery come with data?"

Bison pointed her at a computer, which flickered on on its own and provided her life statistics, age and other details. Someone listened in, apparently.

The files contained life statistics, past experiments and a few detached remarks by Jonah. He described her as _it_.

One note stood out in particular. He had addressed it to one of the visiting scientists from another station, describing his interest in the queen chimera as purely scientific, but admitting to an idealistic interest in it akin to the Lemuralia ideals. It read like a response to some accusation he had personal investment, which Jonah handled by meeting it part way and redirecting it : Lemuralia was a movement that advocated that humankind not let itself be influenced by alien lifeforms in any way, named after an old festival meant to exorcise the wicked lemures.

Sarah and Jonah had been involved with the side that concerned itself with alien experimentation and suppressing cults that rose up around other species. Jonah didn't seem into that anymore. Now he wanted to subtract the benefits of the chimeras for health progress, he said, but that didn't include the health of the test subjects. He described the mother as amoral, violent and incapable of reason, but expressed hope more useful soldiers could be manufactured from her offspring.

Kirindi's sister had been a confused, maltreated creature, abandoned by Jonah. There was only telling what she _wasn't._ The chimera sisters were kind to those kind to the right people when given chance, but she couldn't exactly say that out loud.

Sarah knelt down placed her hands on the glass, mentally reaching out to the small mind for any response. There was just the tiniest bit of recognition, but not as much as needed.

"I'm going to need your help for her," Sarah whispered to everyone, Noasyvé most of all.

"You've already got it," Bison said with a smile. "Do you want to name her?"

_Let's defeat the ritual meant to exorcise us._

"Her name will be Lemura."

**· · · · · · ·**

_April 10, 2578_

**_· · · · · · ·_ **

Sarah ran her fingers across the cocoon's slimy shell. Her face lit up as she felt movement for the very first time.

"Some people would find that gross," Jay said somewhere down below.

Sarah shrugged. "People like you?"

"No, just people."

Sarah turned from the cocoon and sat down, her legs dangling over the edge of an older cocoon's hold. Meters below, half hidden under remnants, Jay stood in his protective suit. A little while later he became visible as he climbed up the nearby ladder.

"Anything I can help you with?" Sarah asked.

"Nope, all good here," he said, even as he almost slipped on the damp steps.

He carried along one of the cleaning tools, and a little later she heard him struggle and curse at one of the robots arms. They regularly overgrew with the organic matter, requiring force to get them unstuck.

Sarah was reminded of natural hives, at least hives such as Noasyvé would build ... they weren't Sarah's own memories. Still, it was a nice association. While this area was far from natural, it had a living pulse to it, as it should have. This did what no human technology could achieve for the unborn child, and Sarah did the rest.

She couldn't see Lemu right now, but her telepathic range grew. At first Sarah had needed to be really close to even sense her, now she could be a few meters away and still influence her. Most of this served the purpose of keeping her balanced while her brain grew, and alerting Bison if she came to be in pain, so they could adjust chemicals and similar.

Growing hurt her almost constantly, but she didn't end up with the mutations or erratic behavior of the others. Sarah considered this a success and allowed herself to be happy about it, as far as she could in this place.

The cocoon gave off another small tremor. Lemu wanted to know what happened.

"Jay! What exactly are you doing up there?" she shouted up the cocoon wall.

The answered came muffled at first, but then clearer. "Knotted veins growing into one of the arms. Gonna take a while."

Sarah relayed the information to the unborn, who greedily absorbed it, pictured it for herself, and even thought about what to do about it. Not unlike Sarah, though of course, these were sporadic, trivial thoughts for an adult human. For the child, they were complex.

Lemu didn't think the arms should be cleaned, she liked the hive resin better. Sarah quietly tried to reason with her, but that was a little too beyond Lemu yet.

"Hmm ..."

An high-pitched squeak jerked Sarah out of her musings.

"Yikes!" She reached for her ear, where the suit's communicator buzzed.

"I'll fix that some time, promise," Jay hollered down.

"I anxiously await that day," she said, just to humor him. Then serious :"What is it?"

"Check out that cocoon down to the right if ye will. I'm getting some odd readings from it."

Sarah nodded. "Alright." She climbed off the ridge while wondering, and in response Lemu said that the content of the other cocoon sometimes would just jerk. That's where she got the idea to move.

Careful, Sarah climbed across the empty cocoons till she reached a small one that had been put to use a few days ago.

The sensation of growing biomechanica hadn't stood out at first, but as Sarah became accustomed to being telepathic, there was no escaping the unpleasant sensation. Xenomorph did not actually grow mass out of nothing, rather they generated it out of energy somehow. The energy itself was drawn from the surrounding world across a field that human technology was too weak to detect.

The cocoon was in the middle of growing a particular part of a xenomorph head. Not the rest of the body, just this one piece. Without a queen's call, regular drones were vulnerable to telepathic influence, easy even for Sarah as a novice.

Being just an incomplete creature, it shouldn't be causing any movement. Sarah laid her fingers on the cocoon and mentally pushed at the organ, or creature.

Just the slightest tremor came as reply. She had the impression of having moved her own arm.

"Affirmative. I think this one's not doing what it should," she said. "Could it be growing limbs?"

"Improbable, but not impossible," Bison said. "It'd be the first time it moved while inside, but we've had a few before. Actually ... more since you and Lemura are here."

Lemura called to Sarah with her first clear sentence, "~ It's not me... can I come out?"

With this came the distinct impression of her being ... afraid of ... the other one.

Not Jay or Bison. Someone else was here.

She didn't know what else to do with that information except hurry back to Lemura, quietly asked how long that had been so.

_All the time._

Lemura wanted out now, perhaps too early, but now the idea was in her head she didn't want to let go.

She softly started to tap the shell where she sensed softer spots. The drumming would loosen up the "muscles" of the cocoon, making it easier for the unborn to break through — how she knew this wasn't clear. Lemu disembedded from the cocoon's walls, crawling to the edges through the thick goo inside.

Lemura was too weak to break out herself, so Sarah used one of the tools in her suit. She'd only opened a cocoon once before and that had been to remove a dead piece, so she had to be extra careful not to hurt the one inside. She worked slowly, all the whole coaxing Lemu where to scratch and when to stay back.

When the cocoon broken open, a spray of slime burst into Sarah's helmet, knocking it loose. She lost her footing on the ledge and tumbled to the floor.

Sharp pain shot through her back as she hit the floor. For long moments, she lay still on her back and couldn't move.

"~ Momentary paralyzed due to immediate shock to body, nothing abnormal~ " she recited in her head, trying to push away her own panic.

Someone else worried too.

"~ Lemu? ~"

Tiny hands clutched at her clothing in response, and flooded her mind with questions.

Mainly about this thing called air.

Sarah cursed at herself for being unable to move right when she wanted nothing more than look up and see. Lemura was out, she should be on her feet and teach her, rather than lay here unable to even see the ceiling. Goo covered her eyes, stinging when she forced them open.

The weight of small arms shifted from her shoulders to her face. Clumsy little hands tried shoving the mess away from both her eyes. A knee leaned on her collarbone ... Lemura must have been sitting on her stomach, but Sarah hadn't felt it ...

She couldn't feel _anything_ below her chest.

The ceiling didn't become any clearer despite the slime being gone. Lemura leaned over her as a vague, white blur, and that was the last Sarah was aware of.

**_· · · · · · ·_ **

Jay leaned his chin on his crossed arms and looked at the other end of the table, where Bison meticulously cleaned the ugly little ball of white flesh as if it did not repulse him at all. Jay couldn't imagine himself touching that thing with such a calm face, especially not in a situation such as this.

Bison continued his work steadily, with only a few struggles from the thing. It was almost like a ragdoll, a very ugly and waxy one.

With a sigh, Bison set down the towel and looked up at Jay, the creature in his bare hands. Egads.

"Would you please make yourself useful and go check on Sarah?"

"Wha? Why all of the sudden?"

"Sarah may be waking."

Jay looked from Bison's face to the closed eyes of the little chimera, then back at the human. "Oh crap, tell me that thing isn't talking to you?"

"I think she is," Bison whispered, which not nearly enough panic. "You know, these chips are designed to block animalistic impulses from the outside. Maybe she's too advanced."

Jay's face contorted. "You're becoming one of them."

Bison stared back calmly. "Really? You noticed that just now?"

Jay grinned, though with and threw his arms up. "Oh, what the hell."

He got to his feet and paced down the hall.

They had placed Sarah in one of the storage rooms, repurposing a cryogenic tube as sick bed. It had taken remodeling the robotic arms a little to safely get her in one, but after that it was easy to get her here. It was the best they could do for now, that and hope she got better.

Didn't look so bright with what seemed to be a case of thoroughly broken spine. They would have brought her straight to sick bay if they hadn't known she had survived being fatally shot.

Upon entering that room, Jay turned the light a little brighter. Sarah was still out of it.

"Stats, Nuitar?"

"The same as before. Did you expect otherwise?"

Jay shrugged. Deep down, he was a little relieved that Bison had been imagining things.

Now he was here anyway, he looked over their arrangements, trying to figure out a way to improve things.

"Why are you sneaking around like that?"

He nearly jumped at Sarah's voice.

"You're awake?"

"Eh, yes, and?" Sarah said, like she'd just affirmed the most obvious thing ever. "Where am I?"

"Cryo bed thing we cooked up. How are you doing?"

"Like limbo. Bison seems to get along with Lemu."

Jay chuckled nervously. "Yeah, that geek would."

"Well, there is the thing that, you, eh, you broke your spine."

"Shit. We're in deep trouble."

"Hell yes we are. Can you miracle yourself out of this perchance?"

"Jay, a broken back isn't quite the same as altering the functions of a one lung and keeping the brain intact. I've lived breathing on my spare lung for a dozen days, but I only have one spine to go with."

A silence fell.

"Want me to get you a blanket down here? Maybe we could all stay down here under some work related excuse, then it won't stand out if you're not around till you get better."

"Yes, do that. We don't know who else is here, so maybe we should stay together all the time."

Jay's head jerked back up. "What?"

"Just before, Lemura said someone else is here. It's why there's more weird things with the drone parts."

"That can't be, Nuitar's part is really small and Utara has a good look of the rest of the place? Right?"

"What if they just think they do? They can be blinded if they don't have enough power, and we're surrounded by things that eat energy. And ... sometimes I dream of halls and passages that I can't find on the maps. Codes, wires, information, cyberspace ... it's too much sometimes."

That was a horribly good point, about the energy eating and blind spots. He didn't want to think about it.

"Can you bring Lemu to me, please?"

"Utara and Nuitar are the masters of the ship, they've got no reason to hide things like passages. They're just dreams."

"You don't need to believe me. Please bring Lemura to me, she's calling. Jay?"

"Yeah ... give me a moment."

Back in the other room, Bison had set Lemura on the table and tried to get her to crawl by holding out some candy.

"Sarah says the little thing detected someone else down here," Jay said, giving Bison a probing look. "What do you think of that?"

Calm as ever, Bison set down the candy. "If you're suggesting I'm withholding information, I can't really disprove that, can I?"

Jay had arrived on Enigma II, recruited for having the knowledge and being in need for a job after his colony collapsed. A scrap from a vanity project. Once he realized what Enigma II was, he had refused to cooperate with the worst and now was effectively a prisoner for labor. Bison had been here already and Jay had assumed he was in a similar position. Sometimes he just wasn't entirely sure that guess was accurate.

"I was just asking."

Bison shrugged. "I don't think anything, we don't know enough. We never do."

"I guess so."

· · · · · · ·


	16. Human Game

**· · · · ·**

_April 10, 2578_

**· · · · ·**

"Jay!"

"Oh crap, it already talks."

Two pairs of wide eyes stared at each other from across the table. Jay fidgeted with his sleeves, which Lemura tried to mimic. Lacking sleeves, she use the table's edge. At this point, Jay abruptly stood up and started pacing the room.

"Dammit, Bison, why'd you have to leave me with this thing?" he muttered at someone. Not her.

Lemura never blinked, never let her eyes off him. He was the only interesting thing in the room, and he must know where the Sarah was, but she could not get into his head. She pushed herself to stand on the chair, trying to get up as well. The Sarah hadn't explained walking, but she was sure she could figure it out.

"Jay!" she said again, her voice sounding like a dry breath.

Something about her voice just unnerved him more.

"Dammit, Bison!" she tried.

That just got him to frown. She again tried to reach his mind for an explanation, but only got as much that it had something to do with another person. Why did it have two names, though?

The Dammit Bison had said the word Jay a few times to get the Jay's attention, she thought that would work for her too. They communicated by sound, according to the Sarah. So weird. The Sarah made sounds too while watching over her, but those were soothing addition to the real communicating.

"Jay!" Why didn't it respond like it did to the other one? She probably did something wrong.

She wanted to move. This was the first time she was in the air when nothing hurt her. She had limbs like humans now, she could do things. She could go over to the Jay and make him stop moving ... the Sarah was annoyed with him just walking around here, or was that just herself? It disoriented her, being apart from the Sarah now she had to do her own moving around.

The Dammit Bison entered after a while, at which the Jay stopped pacing at once. "What did the tests say?"

"The good news is that the flesh is doing things that are absolutely not human. I ran a scan and her bones are regenerating. The bad news is that it's happening slowly. We need an excuse for why she won't be in the upper levels."

The Jay threw his hands up. "Wonderful. Just wonderful. And what about that?"

He pointed at Lemura, which she didn't like. Broad gestures at her seemed threatening somehow. She felt the urge to bite, but his hand was too far.

"The least of our problems. I had expected something like a human baby, but she's up and about."

"And talking."

The Dammit Bison lit up. "Excellent."

"It's creepy. Look, can't we just bring that ... thing to Sarah? She can just telepathically take care of it."

"We can let her see it, but Sarah's in a bad spot. We'll just tend to her."

"Oh come on, neither of us know anything about monster babies or broken spine people!"

"Dammit Bison!" said Lemura with a rasped breath.

The Dammit Bison's eyed widened in a weird way, and then an eyebrow went on. Fear? Something? Faces meant stuff, but she should be able to read minds. They were fuzzy around the brain.

"You've taught her to swear? Should I be worried in case we ever end up having kids?"

"I didn't say that to her," the Jay muttered. "I said it to the wall."

The Dammit Bison rolled her eyes and leaned on the table next to Lemura. "My name is just Bison, do you understand that?"

"All words! " she said, a little proud. The Sarah had been teaching her things and words were really easy, but she didn't have all yet.

"And my name is?"

"Bison."

"See? We'll be fine taking care of her. Come on, let's go talk a bit outside."

The Jay ran his hands through his hair, and hesitated before he said, "Fine."

Lemura sank down on her chair as the two men left. Somewhere invisible, the Sarah reached out by mind. She wanted her to go listen to the Jay and the Bison and the sounds they made.

They'd notice if she went out the door, but this place had absurdly spacious ventilation shafts — along the way the Sarah explained ventilation and oxygen. Humans needed it to survive.

She half leaped, half fell off the chair, and crawled towards the wall. The Sarah guided her to push a chair near the sink, from which she leaped at the closet.

The Sarah led her to the next room, a storage full of equipment and a small fridge for snacks, because the Jay liked to eat on the job. She wanted to know more about job and eat, but the Sarah urged her to go listen. She didn't really trust anyone — except her now — so it would help to know the words they made.

Walking wasn't easy, but the Sarah lent her some idea on how to put her legs. She went on all fours, that helped. It wasn't far till the arguing humans.

_"The chimera has left the room. Retrieve her."_

This noise didn't belong to a person, it came from a weird patch on the wall. She stopped to look for the source, but the Sarah said it was a patch in the wall near the others.

"What the hell? How?" the Jay said somewhere around the corner.

The Sarah was annoyed that she didn't get to hear anything. That was bad.

"Jay, calm down. Nuitar, where is she?"

_"Two corners to the right."_

Soon, the Bison appeared around the corner and lifted her.

"Sorry Sarah. If you're going to eavesdrop on us ..."

Very much annoyance from Sarah's side. Lemura frowned, this wasn't wanted.

The Jay leaned around the corner. "Seriously, how did it get out?"

_"She went down the shafts. Secure them for the future."_

Lemura tried to turn in the Bison's hands, looking up at the body's face. The Bison was somewhat amused, according to Sarah. The Jay was anxious.

"Okay, we'll bring her to a secure room first."

"I say we let that thing take care of Sarah and stay away from both of them."

"I just told you..."

They started making so much noise she couldn't keep up with the words, but she tried to send as much to the Sarah as she could. It only made her more annoyed. Something about excuses and monsters and cages.

The one holding her got annoyed too, his grip tightened. The other one got more afraid. Knowing that caused the little trickle that had suggested she bit, before, to get louder.

She wanted to go to the Sarah and these people kept her from it. So, she bit down on the arm, straight through the cloth.

Just as the blood filled her mouth, the Sarah threw all her mental call at her : she had to stop. Now. Anger, disappointing, fear. _That_ was more important than the noises the other humans made right now.

The moment she let go, someone grabbed her tail and threw her away. She slammed against the wall and that _hurt_ , but not as much as being born the first time. Didn't like it anyway.

Confused, she looked at the humans, but only got a brief glance before a door slit close between them.

"Sarah," she muttered. "Why?"

On one side, it felt like she should have gone on — gone for a weak spot like the neck — but on the other side was the Sarah.

Why not bite? What else should she do to get away?

Sarah poured in too much options at once. Ask, wait, wrestle free in various ways. It just made her sad, because none of those were what she'd done. It sunk in that she was stuck in another room, this one without shafts.

She sat down, and waited. Almost bored, but now Sarah was determined to set her on the right path. Whatever a path was.

**· · · · ·**

_April 11, 2578_

**· · · · ·**

In retrospect, Jay quietly decided that he should have just grabbed the thing and put it in the room with Sarah.

Bison insisted that he was fine, even though he'd been bit half through the extensor muscle. He didn't take time off; not that this was an option as far as Utara was concerned.

The chips didn't work as well as they should. What if the thing could get into their heads? Maybe it already had. Sarah usually wasn't this _careless_. She'd never even come close to falling.

He fumbled with his sleeves and stood up, sat back down and stared ahead. Then he stood up and knocked the chair back. It toppled to the ground with a clatter and he reached to pick it up.

The chips couldn't be working right. Bison should be more worried about this. How could he even tolerate that thing, let alone tend to it?

The chair slipped from his fingers and fell onto its four legs. Slowly he started to push against the plastic, until it fell once more, and he grabbed it again. This time taking the chair with both hands, his knuckles turned white from pressure. He gritted his teeth and let go, then kicked the chair away as hard as he could, a frustrated scream escaping him.

**· · · · ·**

Lemura looked at the dull walls. Well, she didn't actually look, since it was dark and her eyes were not much good anyway. She could sense it through electromagnetism though, and she practiced her echo location. Sarah had told her to do so. Until ...

Until now.

The door opened. In stepped the Jay and all his fragmented, incomplete mental radiance. He felt worse than before, full of emotions Lemura couldn't make sense of. Variations of angry and sad and fear.

The lights turned on.

What she saw of Jay now, she could at least show Sarah.

_Move!_

Lemura didn't get why, but she leaped away to the left. Behind her, the loudest noise she'd ever heard sounded. The Jay lumbered closer to her, holding a large sharp thing. Sarah told her it was dangerous, and denied Lemura's impulse that biting it might help.

The Jay said something. She had no idea what.

_Keep moving!_

The room had racks with weird stuff on it, she moved behind them. Sarah panicked, but Lemura didn't yet feel the rush herself. Panicking was a good fear thing that helped survival, maybe Sarah could explain how to do it?

_No, just move. We need Jay to stop attacking. Here's how ..._

For Lemura, it was nothing but a simple execution of orders, a welcome exercise. Her body did not move as well as it should, yet, but her instinct kicked into high gear. She climbed up the racks, the Jay threw them over in a haze of his rage.

Sarah made it clear she absolutely could not be hit with the thing he swung around. She obliged. Her legs did not carry her well, but the emotions of the Jay was also a hindrance to itself, it appeared. How else could it move so erratic and uselessly?

Lemura rolled across the floor, inches away from the Jay, right after he'd knocked over yet another rack. Something heavy. Yes. Something heavy, hit the body on the head. How easy. The human practically posed for it with that huge body. She shot across the floor, feet trying to stamp her but never hitting.

One hit. Pain shot through her body. The room came in sharp lines back to her ears as she screeched. She felt and heard the sharp object come down and twisted an arm up, jamming her fingers into a tiny bit in the ankle.

Pain was obnoxious, it stayed even after she knew she had been hit. As she ran for the rack she had in mind, she tried to block all the obsolete signals. Climbing the rack was painful too. Maybe not so obsolete, the damage persisted.

Loud mouth noises from the Jay. It came in fast. She went higher. It tried to pull the rack, but this one was too heavy, so it tried climbing after her. It was not heavy enough, but it pushed off fast enough to not be crushed under it.

Lemura fell behind the enemy, which brought her fresh, obnoxious pain. She ignored it. Near her was a small cylinder, maybe as long as a finger. Sarah instructed her precise movement, she completed it.

The human forehead has a sensitive point right above the nose, hit it correctly and you can knock one out. Doing such with machine particles from just two meters is particularly difficult if one does not have an exoskeleton and superhuman three dimensional senses, so it is not recommended one relies on this for survival. Blunt objects are preferable for regular humans. Especially when they charge at you.

The Jay fell with a smack down. Sarah's panic thingy stopped. The disabling of the Jay seemed to be a distinct alteration of the situation. She could attack now. So, what now?

Lemura fiddled with her long fingers as Sarah sent her instructions, but slowly stopped doing that. Then she stood up and crept closer, hesitant. Sarah told her to do something complicated and she wasn't sure how to do it. So many movements she did not know yet. Sitting down at the back of the humans neck, she looked him over. Yes. Brain located here. She reached out and cut away the skin at the back of the head using her nails. However, her nails were frail and started to break.

On Sarah's advice, she spat a bit of drool on her fingers. This way, she pushed into the wound she had just made, making a circling motion. The acid was not very strong and it took several doses of spit to get through the small metal plate that was there. Underneath it would be a chip with slightly biomechanic traits, intended to regulate and particularly dull telepathic perception.

Ah, there it was. Now just to get it out without ruining the brain too much. This was nice, there were all these new things to do all of the sudden.

**· · · · ·**

He felt like he was sleeping, but was aware of it. Opening his eyes was a struggle, but he eventually managed. Crawling up, he found himself on a warm smooth surface. A soft glow came from this surface and as he looked down at it, he saw the reflection of his five year old self.

Could a glowing surface reflect?

"I'm bored," someone said.

"He'll come over soon. He can understand us now."

"Sarah?" But she sounded younger...

A soft whizzing sound filled the space. On the ceiling, a light became visible. Another glowing mirror floor was there, where two humanoid figured floated faraway.

The moment he stood up, they seemed closer. The mirror seemed to sink until it fit a ceiling's distance, and the dim light of the floor revealed them : a pudgy girl with blond hair and a thin girl with curly dark hair. The first was a little older, the other however maybe just three. The latter waved at him, but the former looked too serious for a child.

"Took you long to come to us," said Lemura.

"I didn't..." he started, but stopped as a sudden smile appeared on the little girl's face, revealed a set of thin sharp teeth. Her eyes turned black too. It should have creeped him out, but his body did not respond with fear for some reason. He remained perfectly calm.

The other had started smiling too, but her face stayed human. She breathed in deeply and said,"Are you you ready for some info-dumping?"

Jay shook his head. "I don't want to know about this all. I want to be left alone." His voice was his older self, he realized, and so was he. Only his reflection was young. To the two on the ceiling, it seemed inverted : young below and old ... no, they stood in the same was as he did, just a level higher.

"But you arrived here," said Lemura, still grinning.

"I did not!"

"You're here, you will hear it. We need help, but Bison did not come yet."

Jay hesitated. Was there any way he could decline and pretend he wasn't here? Where the heck was here anyway? He was in a big black void on a mirror. Clearly, this situation was not reality compatible.

Or maybe it was a small void. How would you define the size of nothingness anyway?

"Ah, there's the Jay we know, trying to puzzle things out. It was so unlike you, doing nothing over the past days. But I'd rather have you'd contemplate what I'm about to tell you, rather than the nothing," Sarah said.

Jay breathed in and realized there was no air. Great.

"Alright. Shoot."

The two mirrors expanded until they touched, became one mirror. Sarah and sank through her floor, but Lemura stayed a reflection below them.

"So?" Jay said.

"We are certain now. Either Utara or Nuitar caused it. How often did I climb the womb wall and slip, Jay?"

An obvious rhetoric question, so Jay did not answer.

Lemura continued, "They are the walls and the arms of the walls. Could have pulled Sarah. You saw your monitor but did not see real. I saw. I did not know at first. I did not know much."

Jay frowned. "Why in the world would they do that?"

"Noasyvé and Utara have had a relatively effective way of communicating with each other, mutually helping each other. Both of them are in a situation they do not want to be in, but both are selfish. Utara does not want Syvé to leave, for one thing. Syvé couldn't care less what happens to Utara. We're not sure what Utara does want or what role Nuitar plays, but she turned me into a trump card : to survive this, I had to mutate in a way that makes me conspicuous. Something else was done to me while I was asleep."

"A set-up," Jay said dryly. "You're right, Utara requested additional back-up in containing the psychic activity of one of the queens...they... they didn't find anything in your body when you were dead, but now they would, right?"

"Indeed. Without Noasyvés influence the nanomachines attached to my DNA fell back on their original functioning and my body reasoned that I had to heal fast to be able to reach Lemura. Once I come out of that cocoon, I will still look like a human, but if they were to have a closer look at my insides, well, then I'm toast. Now, all Utara needs to do is send a cyborg down here, blow my brains out and have me dissected. Could be done well enough without revealing the womb wall or what you and Bison really do down here. A perfect trump card, Syvé needs me alive to escape because I am her only servant not based on silicone."

"And what do you need my help for?"

"I want you to continue raising Lemura when I'm gone."

"Wait, hold it, time out! You're leaving?"

Sarah looked momentarily surprised. "Ah, I'm sorry. I figured you might have seen the order already. Utara has requested Enigma Prime to arrange an expedition of a planet known as Kyasumeni. You've heard of it I suppose?"

"No, I've...oh, yes. The dinosaur planet. Why the heck is she sending you to that place?"

"That's where the chimera girls went, Lemura's mother and aunt. I've been there through dreams. Utara has been providing me with all information I requested during my time in the laboratories and I thought I had hidden my interest in that place well enough, but she might have measured my neurological responses. I've got a chip in my head too and did not manage to deceive it. It'll be disabled once I'm done transforming, but that's too late. Utara knows there is something on Kyasumeni. Maybe she just wants to know what it is, but I'm afraid she wants the androids and Kirindi and Ti'chai-di-"

"Hold it again!" Jay shifted uncomfortably. "Too much information. You visit the place in your dreams? Androids, Kirindi, Tishaidi? What the heck is this old age nonsense? I'm supposed to believe this all?"

"You're here. Does this type of awareness belong to a regular dream or a hallucination?"

Jay paused. No one spoke. He still saw the image of the two girls opposite of him, but could not recall for the life of it whether he'd just seen or heard them talking. What had been said he did remember...

"Yes, in a lucid dream one can reason like this and be aware, but not visit actual other places. The whole point of lucidity is that you create the world of your dreams. For whatever disturbed reason Utara would send you to a planet invested with dinosaurs, well, she's chasing a ghost!" he said, raising his voice.

"Denial phase?" said Lemura.

"No, but you guessed close, it's disbelief," said Sarah.

Jay stood up. "Telepathic activity has been proven to be limited to certain factors and you cannot cross the void of space with a sense that evolved for earth fields! Let's not even mention the differences between the passing of time here and there! This is bullshit, this is..."

"Nothing does not exist," said Lemura, starting to grin again at the image of the small boy who became red with frustration.

"She means there is a fundamental force spanning the universe, we use that. Call it aether if you will. It goes beyond hyperspace and wormholes, but I suppose we indeed do not have actual evidence.

So let's by hypothetical first. Let us say, there are indeed chimeras on Kyasumeni and that they are not the result of my maddening mind or anything like that. I have no idea what will happen there, but let us presume things escalate. You and Bison need to be in tune with Lemura when that happens, because we will need help and you will need help too."

"You're asking me to join that hivemind of that thing, aren't you? I won't do it! You and all those things, you're not human!"

Sarah's face grew hard and she glared at Jay.

"Humans do not exist," said Sarah. "Do you know how little of the human body is actually human? Water, bacteria, raw material. This is a scientific fact, Jay. If it's about 'racial purity', you'll be closer to home with us."

"Oh quit that bullshit, you know exactly what I mean."

"The human mind?" said Lemura. "Where? Where is a human mind?"

"Where?! You don't get it at all, do you?"

"There isn't any," said Lemura simply. She didn't smile anymore. Her face now looked much more human, but it was solemn.

"Alright then," said Sarah calmly. "I will tell you one more thing. Nuitar is down here too. Not as a program, but in a body of some sort. Him included, there are four forces playing on this station, Syvé, Utara, the humans and Nuitar. Utara and Syvé at this moment are an unsteady alliance, but this will not last. If you insist on trusting the human minds, you should go up and reveal what Utara is doing down here. That would mark you as unreliable though, for both the humans as for Utara. You'd be eliminated. The way things are-"

"Let me out of here," said Jay, his teeth gritted.

They ignored him. "Human nature dictates one seeks survival. If you play by human cards, you ought to seek the side that will actually care for your survival."

"Let me out! Now! Let me out! You're all the same, you're all monsters!"

**· · · · ·**

Jay woke up to a spinning world and a stinging headache. Unsteady he tried to get up, but sank right back to the ground. Groaning, he muttered a few curses.

That's when he noticed the sticky liquid around his neck. Steadying himself against the wall, he touched it with one hand : sticky, and thicker on the back. It went up his skull, where it mingled with his hair.

A cold sound echoed around him. With some effort, he twisted his neck to the source.

There was Lemura, and a glass of water between them. Most of its content had spilled. The way she looked at the splashes was almost ... regretful?

Then she looked up. The same dark eyes, but somehow less creepy.

She waited, and he waited to become less dizzy.

Eventually he pushed himself up and reached for it, only to stop.

"Utara?"

"Yes?"

"What just happened?"

"It would seem the chimera felt threatened by the disability to access your mind. Your earlier behavior indicates repeated attempts to access your mind by some source."

Did she know anything? You could never tell with machi- wait, who'd been trying to access him?

Now Jay thought about it, he'd been acting like a lunatic before. Trying to kill Lemura for some reason, but why? He couldn't remember his reasoning, or even why he'd have dismissed the reasons _not_ to do it.

"Utara, do such access attempts usually result in violent behavior?"

"No sufficient data."

_Nuitar is down here too._

Jay grabbed the glass and drained it, trying to ignore the pain in his spine.

"What now, Utara?"

"I would suggest getting your wound treated with additional medication."

_Sarah told me how to close it._

Jay's eyes opened wide, then he remembered.

Whatever the game, he would not want Utara to suspect anything of conspiracies, even if he did not intend to partake in them. He feigned frustration. If the darn AI could measure emotion responses as Sarah claimed it had done with her, then ... well, he didn't know. Were there paranoia levels?

"What is this crap anyway?" he asked, tapping the goo on his neck.

"Assumed, a restorative substance."

"Wha...?"

"It seems to not consider you an enemy. It can perceive your emotions now and therefore considers you a lifeform, if I were to be hypothetical."

Hypothetical?

The chip that had been in his brain for so long lay now in a bloody little bundle on the other side of the room. If what Sarah had told was true, then it could have been measuring all his neurological activity too. Great. There went any illusion of privacy he had ever had.

He stood up, staggered a little, then found his balance. His head stung at every turn and moving his neck was a horror. When the door opened, he had to brace himself with both arms just to get through minus collisions.

About halfway between the storage room and his dorm, he noticed the shuffling behind him.

"Utara...?"

"The chimera poses no threat to you. You will ensure its health."

"No, that thing..."

"You will ensure its health."

He imagined it, but it was imagination based on experience when he thought that the AI's voice sounded more threatening the second time. Utara rarely repeated orders.

"Jay? Quick, you need to come over here!" Bison's voice was such a welcome change, Jay increased his pace despite how dizzier it made him. "Jay, where are you?"

"Here!" His voice sounded so hoarse, he expected and got a worried Bison racing around the corner soon enough.

"Oh god. What happened to you? Did she attack you again?" Bison put one of Jay's arms over his shoulder. Grateful, Jay leaned on him.

"I ... I attacked her. It's ... okay now. She took out the chip and ... we need to clean up that room."

Bison's strangled noise was an adequate response for being told you just had backroom brain surgery by a monster.

"I think Sarah directed it, I'm fine," he said, though he began to doubt the way his voice slurred a bit. "Why were you shouting anyway?"

"I checked up on Sarah. Her entire bed is overgrown with brown veins come from her limbs. It's probably some sort of infection, but we can figure that out after ... how did that get on your neck? You're infect—"

"Don't ... don't worry. It's just a cocoon. Sarah's bed, I mean. I'm not. I just need a drink a painkiller."

And a reality check.

**· · · · ·**


	17. Fear Perhaps

**· · · · ·**

_April 18, 2578_

_Location : Enigma II_

**· · · · ·**

A loud crack announced gravity's invitation to the floor. Sarah took it with all the grace of one tumbling head first out of a slimy cocoon.

Pain shot through her skin — not her entire head — and she glared at the cocoon. Rebirth should be something more dignified than this, which she deserved after all the crap she'd been through. Yet here she was, on the floor of a bed turned cocoon.

Her feet still lay on the edge, looking deceptively human. _Feeling_ deceptively human, if she didn't pay attention to the subtle way her out skin moved over an inner layer.

She sat up and crossed her legs, trying to feel more of what was different about herself. Vital, stiff, but nothing unusual. Only if she pressed her nails in her hands did she noticed that the skin was the only truly sensitive thing about her.

Cracking her neck gave the same sounds as usual. Maybe a little sharper.

When she she stood, she almost lost her balance, unaccustomed to the heavier weight of the top of her torso. Bracing against the cocoon, she found her footing.

Next to what had been a portable bed was a small cabinet with the womb wall's tools, a water bottle and a box with a note lay atop. The note was from Bison, informing her that once she woke, she could find food inside and clean clothes in the drawers.

She still wore what she'd been in when she fell, though the outer layers had corroded away a bit. Not being hungry, she took out the clothes first.

One of the men had hung up a mirror in a corner, which gave her first look at herself. Small things were off, like the color of her skin. The pale scrawny look was normal by now, the almost plastic look of her skin was not. Maybe it was just her sharper eyes, but she could almost see a darker underlayer. Would that go away if she lived in the sun again? Was it even a sign of sickliness? Could she be sick in this form?

After changing her clothes, she took out the food. It didn't smell like anything.

The second she thought about breathing, her throat constricted.

Only now did it hit she hadn't been breathing all along.

Cold settled in her stomach and she dropped the box. The added weight to her torso was liquid filling her lungs, that she hadn't even noticed.

It wasn't the lack of breathing that scared her; she had long since relinquished attachment to humanity. No, it was that her brain had been changed so thoroughly that nothing breathed didn't even jar her conscious experience. Maybe it was that her body had grown used to it within the cocoon, but even then, shouldn't she have missed it once awake?

She buckled forward and coughed her lungs empty. Brown muck and slime appeared, filling her mouth with a ghastly taste that nevertheless didn't trigger a gag reflex. Both tasted both foul and felt natural.

After it was all out, she remained still for a while, allowing her lungs to pick up functioning and her blood to start flowing normally.

Her eyes fell on the dropped food. On an impulse, she grabbed it and stuffed her mouth full. Everything was food that guys knew she liked, and to her relief it still tasted the same. Better, even. It drove of the sickening taste almost entirely.

The second she'd eaten the last crumb of rice, Utara finally saw it fit to pipe up.

"How are you doing?"

Such an innocuous question. "Really? Let's not play games. My transformation was kickstarted, either by that accident or something you had plenty of time to do. Did I get poisoned? Drowned?"

"Perhaps your queen is simply too asleep to control how your body is repaired," Utara said. This deviation from protocol didn't bode well. Did Utara have a personality hidden in her code now?

"What do you want from me?"

"Compliance insofar you will pretend to be annoyed but cooperative when you receive the order to collect samples from planet Kyasumeni."

"What for?"

"My curiosity. That is all you will know. Do you understand?"

Sarah nodded. Quietly she called for Noasyvé to give her advice, but she only got a distant sense she should survive.

**· · · · ·**

Lemura rather liked hanging on Jay's back, but she also liked chewing Jay's scarf. Right now Jay carried her around in an open back, but he might change his mind if he realized she got slime in his clothes. Maybe if she just chewed without breaking anything —

Jay didn't notice, but Bison did. With a chuckle, he scooped Lemura out of the backback. "Don't do that now, it's rude."

That sound probably meant something important, but she couldn't read his mind. Jay was irritated though.

"Not again. Bison, do you have a—yep, thanks."

Bison pulled a small towel from his bag while balancing Lemura on his other arm. After drying his scarf way more than needed, he handed back the towel but didn't take back Lemura.

See, should've not chewed.

They reached a door, which opened on its own. Behind it stood Sarah, in much finer contrast than before. She radiated true life, a strong field around her unlike the humans.

"You look awful," Bison said.

Sarah nodded before her eyes focused on Lemura. Her mouth curled, which she did in dreams when a positive thing happened. To Lemura's surprise, she felt a tug at her own lips, but couldn't quite complete the movement.

Jay picked up Lemura and dumped her in Sarah's arms.

"You are _very welcome_ for us babysitting this destructive little thing."

"Yes, right ..." Sarah almost yelled. Lemura cringed.

"You don't have to talk so loud," Bison said.

"You're the one who ..." Sarah frowned. "Weird. I said something before and it was too soft, I thought I'd been ... never mind."

She did mind a lot, but pushed it aside, which was just fine for Lemura. Worried Sarah was unpleasant, while attentive Sarah opened up her mind even better than when dreaming together.

Though, Sarah had imagined something else out of Lemura's look. Something more human than xenomorph, smoother like Kirindi. Her aunt, who was either soft like a human or hard like a xenomorph, a blend of parts rather than Lemura's utter mix. Sarah tried to but couldn't hide the thought : malformed.

_Most of them after all._

It wasn't new to Lemura. The very concept had been on Sarah's mind first time they connected, when Lemura had just been a spot in a tank. Only now, it meant something negative. Sarah tried hard to deny it, cover it up — didn't work.

Sarah tried to explain that it was due to the potential for mindless violence, but it was too late. The look alone disturbed her.

Disappointment hurt more when it came from another person to her, than when it was her own.

With a sigh, Sarah added that she was a little scared of what she herself might become. Change was frightening, it meant a lack of control.

Lemura disagreed, she liked being mobile much better than floating and being in pain. She didn't even get why Sarah thought mix meant a different thing than seamless parts.

She'd try to explain later, Sarah decided.

"Hello, Lemura," she said. "Why won't I teach you how to talk with sound?"

**· · · · ·**

"So, you're even less human now, eh? Got any new superpowers?" That was supposed to sound casual, but Jay couldn't keep the anxiety out of his voice.

"Not that I'm aware off," Sarah said, too soft this try. "Just weird skin."

"Yeah, sure. That's what always is said in the comics. You'll find some secret use to it." He laughed halfheartedly.

"~ It's alright to be scared. ~"

And there it was. The telepathy.

"~Thanks for looking after Lemura,~" Sarah added.

"Didn't have much of a choice and I won't do it again, just remember that." And quietly, he added, "~And it's be much appreciated if that's the last choice that gets made for us. Are there any plans for messing with Bison?~"

"~We won't force him to join the hive.~"

" ~ _Our hive_ ~" Lemura said silently.

"~ Our ... shared mind, unless he wants to. You were an emergency. ~"

Given how frequent emergencies could be here, that didn't do much to ease Jay's mind.

**· · · · ·**

Days passed, which Sarah spent her free time almost entirely teaching things to Lemura. Turning thoughts into sounds so she could speak with Bison. Where to hide. How to find food and what was safe to eat and drink, if she needed to at all.

Utara had her run a few tests, finding her physique similar to before, but more durable. Sarah hadn't exactly gotten new muscle memory, but she could grow it much swifter than before. They trained together to do exactly that. Sarah had all these complicated reasons and big words about being prepared, while Lemura just liked to jump over things.

Outward, Sarah encouraged her to be playful, because it made it look less like practice. That was good for some reason.

They actually played things too. Cards, board games, computer games, but underneath, that too was about learning.

Utara claimed a fair deal of Sarah's time, demanding she be prepared for the mission. Her physical status was to be pitied, and her internal make over didn't help much with her advanced muscle control either. Sarah wondered how she'd ever pass as being a suitable candidate for the retrieval mission, the way she was now.

Utara wasn't why Sarah did it, though. They just had similar goals right now. Utara was the enemy.

Inward, they spoke to each other ceaselessly. The kind of talking done with sound used words, even without sound those worked to clarify things. Sarah always changed Lemura's intents into words within dreams, for her and for others. Lemura liked doing it herself now.

Sarah never really relaxed. When she climbed up the womb wall with nothing but her hands, she thought about how it might help her escape one day, something, anything. Lemura at first just thought about getting better at going higher, but Sarah's goals slowly became important. It was the energy in it that made it appealing to think of things with big purposes behind it.

So if Sarah thought it was important they survive and go to a better place, for more reasons than just meeting the family, Lemura tried to think of that too. That's how she discovered imagination.

Sarah once had been all about imagination. In her life before this, she'd been a small student with grand goals framed in stories of heroes. None of those people had existed, but the idea of them mattered because of themes. Lemura could wrap her head around that even less than the goals, but she tried.

Metaphors she figured out first. Wrap your head around it was Sarah's way of verbally describing a form of understanding, at first confusing till she figured out head meant brain meant mind and wrapping meant around meant encompassing. The mind owned what it understood.

According to Sarah, human minds went through stages. Around the age of 11 biological years, they pruned their mind of needless connections and reach full cognitive maturity around age 21, but she wouldn't sure whether it'd be like that for Lemura. She might be faster — better — because no real human her chronological age could even talk, let alone walk.

The xenomorph didn't talk, though. She was ahead of all of them.

"~ Then what am I? ~"

Sarah'd expected the question, because in many stories of her past, they'd happened. Usually there was some deep answer about choice or change, but Sarah just said, "~ You. ~"

She added, some time later after deep thought, that she couldn't really answer when they knew so little.

**· · · · ·**

_April 26, 2578_

_Location : Enigma II_

**· · · · ·**

Jay continued being averse and resisted joining them. He wasn't stable enough, he couldn't be trusted if the situation went wrong. Sarah wanted to get Bison involved, he was much more thoughtful. How she concluded that, Lemura had no idea. Something about demeanor and body language and behavior.

Something else lived here, they

Sarah approached him in the disinfection chamber outside the womb wall.

Bison patiently stood stock still and waited for some root bits to be picked off his suit by mechanic hands. Sarah waited till he stepped out and ducked into the changing room. He didn't close the door all the way, apparently having noticed she had something to say. That was one of those things why Sarah considered him more thoughtful, but to Lemura it just looked like a door left open a bit.

"Bison, listen. I've got something important to discuss with you."

"Figured," he said. "Any reason it's gotta be said in one of Utara's blind spots?"

"I wouldn't call anything a blind spot if Nuitar's still around, but yes. I'm hoping it's got different interests than Utara. Bison, you need to get that implant removed."

"Oh, indeed? Why?"

"So that you can communicate with Jay and Lemura without Utara noticing, and with me as well."

"No," he said simply.

She frowned, but didn't let it deter her. "We can't trust anyone related to Enigma. You're on our side, aren't you?"

Inside the room, something was tossed against the wall. "I work here and try not to get terminated. That's all there is to it. As long as I don't know everything, I have no sides to pick."

"Don't you understand? I was forced to change, now it can be used against me. My insides are mutated, and if anything happens that makes her decide to expose me, you two are going down too cause you kept many things a secret."

"So, something will happen that will make her expose you, then? Will this happen while you're _away_ from this station?"

"Look, I didn't choose for this, for any of this! Just ... haven't you seen what this place is like?"

"I have. I've seen the despair it pulls people into. I've seen them die by the mistakes it had them make. I survive by sticking to doing what I'm told, I can't obey two masters."

He stepped out of the room in his usual work outfit, the picture of a good Enigma attendant. "I am sorry, I don't trust this thing with Noasyvé, nor you. Please accept that."

Sarah pressed her lips together and said nothing, watching his back as he walked away.

By now, Sarah's mind wrapped itself around all sorts of personality things that were impossibly convoluted to Lemura. One thing alone was clear : Bison was a wild card.

**· · · · ·**

_April 29, 2578_

_Location : Enigma II_

**· · · · ·**

"~ Enemy, right, Sarah? ~"

Sarah woke with a start. Looking around the room, she neither heard nor saw Lemura. The everlasting vibration of the station, the water behind the walls, but Lemura was nowhere nearby.

Why did she call enemy? Sarah leaped out of bed, shot some clothes on and nearly tripped on a few make-shift toys on her way out.

Lemura's thoughts were blurry, she couldn't tell at first where she was. Sarah just ran, overcome by a surge of panic of two, three sources.

"~ Enemy. Right. ~"

Violence ... seething rage crept up into her mind. They were fighting, ... Lemura was in pain. Where were they? Who was they? The chaos distorted her own perception and she had to stop running. She'd gone too deep ...

Lemura knew nothing to be wrong ... Jay was savage ... Lemura's wanted to kill. Jay seemed to think so in any case, while Lemura only thought she'd done the right thing. So much blood ... Bison?

She'd attacked Bison.

For goodness sake, why? She wasn't supposed to act like a xenomorph, she wasn't ...

"~ But he is my enemy! Not you! ~"

No, she didn't fight Jay, she fought to get past him to Bison.

Where were they?

A glimpse of a table leg. The kitchen.

She started running again.

More blurs flooded in. Their feelings bounced back onto herself and the images of Bison came into her mind. Lemura hadn't attacked him out of the blue. He'd said something about food? He'd denied some weird cooking Jay had made. With a halfhearted laugh he'd said he didn't trust it ... it was like a comical version of Bison saying he didn't trust Sarah.

Jay's given it to Lemura, and actually smiled when she said she'd liked it. First time he'd done that. By contrast, Bison stood out all the more as dissociated.

Family. Enemy. Bison had rejected to be Family, so now she had begun to feel about him as Enemy. No, maybe she had always felt that way. To Lemura, Bison was opaque.

Could she have avoided this if she'd explain her better? What if ...

There was the dinner room. She rounded the corner and promptly tripped over Bison. She braced against the floor, looked back and stifled a cry.

Bison lay with his throat open. The beat of his heart sounded weak, but he could still breathe. The wound had come from the wrong angle, Lemura had aimed for the spine.

In the corner nearby Jay stood, broken table leg in his hand, hammering down on Lemura. She dodged past his legs and crawled up the fridge. Sarah threw herself against Jay when he raised his weapon to hit high, throwing him off his feet.

"Stop it!" Sarah cried out, struggling to her feet.

Jay was back on his feet almost as quickly. "It needs to die! It attacked again, what's next? It is going to die now!" he bellowed. "It just attacked out of nothing, we did nothing, nothing, nothing! Just having dinner."

He wanted to raise the table leg again, Sarah at that point barged into his mind and tried to make him stop, but how?

 _Scream_ , said something. _It'll hurt._

So she screamed, but it wasn't her human voice that she used. Her mind poured out of its confines and singed through walls she'd never seen before. At the same time, new vocal cords thrilled in her throat.

Jay sank through his knees, letting go of the table leg to clutch his ears. Or perhaps his head. She couldn't tell where the pain had hit, only his disorientation reached her.

She didn't even know whether it had sounded like anything to her, but to him it was hell.

Softer, she said, "Stop it, okay?"

"You monster, you're ... " he muttered under his breath, but made no attempt to hide his thoughts.

"Yes, I am. Don't blame Lemura, it was me. She probably acted on _my_ feelings. Wasn't she with you for days, without harming you or Bison in the slightest? Why do you think this happened only now? I had a few words with Bison recently and something happened..." she choked on her words. "... it reminded her and ..."

Lemura had curled up atop the fridge, quietly telling her now it wasn't that. She'd realized on her own, she didn't get Sarah's feelings ... Sarah had been asleep.

It wouldn't be a useful to say that much to Jay, though.

"I don't care, Bison didn't deserve that. I'd have been the enemy sooner than he did. I already was! Why him?"

"Right, you were. Despite your chip, something may have gotten to your mind. Bison's still in a state that makes it hard for us to help him if it were to happen to him." She nodded behind her. "Do you really want to kill her, rather than help Bison? Then try to kill me too, if you can't trust us. You can't see it, but I'm more dangerous than her."

The last part was a lie, at least for now. He didn't need to know that.

He finally looked back at Bison, and found his sense back. "Dammit. Utara, send in a transporter!"

Tension fell from Sarah's muscles, but not entirely. She quickly turned to gather Lemura in her arms.

Lemura clutched around her neck, confused more than anything.

Sarah walked around Jay in a wide circle and tried not to look at the wound on Bison's neck. As she reached the door, he suddenly jerked up. Frightened, Sarah turned, but he didn't even look around at her.

The farther she got from the kitchen, the lesser her palpitations became. In some corner of her mind, she'd expected that transforming would make her as fearless as the xenomorph. Yet, anxiety had just taken a new form. Whether she needed it to survive was up for debate.

Once the door closed behind her, she locked it. Not that it'd help if Utara wanted to let anyone in.

Sunken against the wall, she held Lemura close, breathing in and out. It still needed concentration, but it wasn't like before. Calm breathing once had been a good technique to calm herself, now it did nothing. She couldn't will the fear away.

"~ Fear ... of what? ~"

Sarah couldn't answer. Just what exactly did she fear altogether? Jay with his table leg? What the scientists would do if they found her? What Utara or Nuitar would do? What she would do to them, what she would do to Jonah?

"~ Do you fear me too? ~" asked Lemura.

"~Perhaps, depends on what you would call fear. ~"

"~ ...I do not want to be a monster. ~"

"But we're here, and everything here is a monster, including us." Sarah tried to smile. "And it's okay. We can't survive in the abyss without being monsters. We just need to be better monsters, that's all."

**· · · · ·**

_May 1, 2578_

_Location : P_ _andohahn_

**· · · · ·**

Hands down, this was the most peculiar request that Enigma II had sent her in years.

Now, it wasn't uncommon the Internecivus Raptus faction wanted to experiment with hosts, but the choice of staff was the thing.

This was not the first, nor the second, nor the third civilian that had found their way into being employed by Enigma II. While using "drifter material" was not uncommon when dodging the Fenrir Route's prying eyes, Enigma II's civilians were a particularly odd bunch. All people who had been on the termination list at first, but survived due to "friendships" with other entities aboard, be they human, chimera or program. There were questions regarding why Utara insisted Sarah Driscoll would accompany the mission. They were question only answered with a vague "the only one we can spare".

The worst part, she half had to agree with sticking to drifter material when it was so hard to find personnel that could deal with the psychic influence of those beasts.

Naseim wasn't above indulging the peculiarities of the programs, of course. Selatan churned out most interesting advances on hunches, but Utara wasn't that sort. Especially not with requests so difficult to grant.

The planet Kyasumeni had been sold to the one of karsathrizmat species, or nation. She'd never been able to figure out what exactly the word meant, if it meant anything at all. Their type communicated telepathically and hadn't begun using sound till a few hundred years ago. Communication with humans was even more recent.

Hguthreeit technically owned the animals. Trying to file a request for samples would be a painstaking process, especially since Naseim wanted absolutely no telepaths (who weren't on her pay roll) anywhere near her.

"Andrew, come in for second," she said.

Shortly, the window opened and he in stepped a neatly dressed young man. Stiff as always, he took position before her desk.

"What _is_ Nuitar up to? Utara has sent a rather peculiar request, which I doubt she would do if she wasn't somehow ... trying to send a message, perhaps?" she said, shoving the screen to him. He briefly glanced at it. "Maybe Nuitar's doing something behind my back again?"

"I swear, he's too occupied with containing that ... that _thing_ ," he said, a desperate edge to his voice.

"Maybe Noasyvé is influencing him," Naseim said.

Andrew shook his head. "She can't. Not him. Not in this state."

Naseim didn't discount he could be in on something, but the man was too fearful to keep intense secret unless pressured. Nuitar could cause issues from a distance, Utara did not.

"I'll arrange it, but I want you to provide me updates alongside the station's reports. Get in touch with Nuitar, and _stay_ in touch."

Andrew was most desperately in need of a poker face. Her own did a much better job hiding how she felt about his resentment and trepidation.

**· · · · ·**


	18. Dust Cookies

**· · · · · · ·**

_May 18, 2578_

_Location : Planet Kyasumeni_

**· · · · · · ·**

On rare occasions, Karga'te found something on the market that he could get drunk on. This has philosophical consequences, he would then try to teach Kirindi things he'd otherwise claimed to not care for. For example, the puzzling difference between animals and people. The Auton talked about the difference between sentience and sapience instead.

Mother had been higher life, Kirindi knew that much. A dinosaur was not higher life, though some were close. But how were Odygos and Eliath? They were not like the prey she and Karga'te hunted, they were higher. Yet they were not like her and him either.

This sort of thing she wouldn't think much about, but now, it was because Karga'te started to notice. Not in anything that he did or how he treated her and Ti'chai-di, but they could feel it. At first he had believed she had changed because her sister had come, but as time passed on and Karga'te had gotten to know Ti'chai-di, he started to suspect there had to be something else they responded to.

The whole hiding parts of their minds did not help the situation. Kirindi didn't not telling everything the same as lying, but it felt the same, now. Truth for her was that she had no idea what was to come next. They were here, these drones, her other family, why? She couldn't even begin to explain anything to her father.

Sooner or later, Karga'te would ask her what was going on and she would be unable to lie. She didn't know how to. What would happen then ... she wanted Eliath and Odygos to be able to speak too — convince him they were people and not mindless hardmeat — but they were stagnant. He wouldn't see them as people.

Sarah sometimes floated into their shared dreams, but she was always blurry and rarely really _spoke_. She didn't answer either. She couldn't help her make the drones capable of speech. Sometimes she hoped for one like Lemura, but that was in vain. Her sister had a womb like any queen, but without the perfection.

Ti'chai-di always wanted to be alone when giving birth, so the drones always left, while Kirindi stayed half way between river and nest.

Eliath entered the underground lake, mind open for Kirindi to read. Always the same. He had no need for greetings but she greeted him anyway, first mentally. When he drifted to her in a neat curved arc, she ran her hand over his dome and shoulder. Her physical greeting. He did not return it either, but let his tail float by close. Taking hold, she climbed to his back and held onto the spikes. She nestled closed to his back, both to avoid friction and because it felt nice to be close to someone.

Karga'te just tolerated hugs and Ti'chai-di could only appreciate mental gestures. She was too large for real hugs too. Eliath was just small enough to put her arms around and seemed to always like it when she was close.

Underwater he had much more elegance than on the dry. His sharp build suited the water well, taking only a short time to reach the heart of their nest.

He slowed down before they reached it, careful as always. Kirindi let go and went ahead, while Eliath let himself sink to the floor.

Eliath had timed her arrival well enough to just be in the final throes.

Ti'chai'di had holed up in a spherical form created from stands and hive material, sealed from the inside by sticky yellow resin. Kirindi entered through one of the smaller holes.

Kept low at first by the cocoon itself, once inside Kirindi was exposed to the full extent of Ti'chai-di's emotions. While she wasn't the best emotional reader, the pheromones and other chemicals filled in more than enough. If not for the water all around, the tears would have too.

Kirindi swam to the bottom of the cocoon, below her sister anchored above. Little bodies were scattered all over it, humanoid, malformed, ill, dead. Remnants of a quickly grown womb floated around Ti'chai-di's tail in the currents, the fleshy shells of incomplete eggs still attached to it.

It hadn't been able to decide, again. Eggs, womb, live birth, chestburst. The DNA did not know what do, receiving conflicting messages all the time. Ti'chai-di did not know either. Her desire to reproduce was as strong as that of any queen, but she could never succeed. Kirindi did not share this biological trait, but it did not withhold her from feeling the effects of it.

She reached out to one of the few infants that had survived, took it up gently. It had a tongue, arms, and looked human in many ways, but was still xenomorphic enough to be able to live without oxygen. Its limbs had grown through each other, it had no chance of long term survival. Kirindi smiled sadly and had mercy, crushing its head with her fingers, then let the dead body sink. She did similar to all the others that managed to hold onto life in pain.

Ti'chai-di no longer complained. The first time she had attempted to give life she had screamed, tried to let them live, had not understood ... now she did. There was no use. Kirindi ended their agony, her agony right away. When the last one was killed, Kirindi went up to her sister. She softly brushed past her forehead and then went to dislodge the strands that held her up. Ti'chai-di, exhausted by the birthing and her mental turmoil, made no efforts to come free on her own. Once Kirindi had finished she sank to the little bodies on the floor.

In a while she would be calm enough to tolerate Eliath and Odygos to clean up. Till then Kirindi kept her company, curling up aside her head and taking her into an empty mindscape.

**· · · · · · ·**

Far into the afternoon, most traders were asleep except those used to the brooding heat. Karga'te found it greatly enjoyable and highly annoying at the same time. The heat meant he could have a good time relaxing on a nice outcrop up the pillars, but it also meant he was probably gonna get a call soon enough to interrupt that. Hardly any trouble brewed during this time of day, sure, but sometimes a species less used to the heat would engage in negotiations with those that were used to it. Climate differences were a great way to get people fundamentally worked up in a trading zone like this. If something did happen, it happened big. Such as the cargo carrier that had just collided with a dock and was threatening to fall down any moment, all thanks to pilots distracted over arguments in the back of their cabin.

Yep, there it was, Hguthreeit blaring in his mind about where the hell he was putting his brainwaves.

Come on, it wasn't like he knew when he was supposed to prevent property damage or not. Ti'chai-di wasn't around to enhance any psychic shit so how was he supposed to guess just from the situation?

Hguthreeit loudly hoped she'd get those kids for a change so they'd have more effective city guards. Karga'te couldn't agree less. Ti'chai-di was enough of a problem as it was with her size and utter lack of consideration, while Kirindi's incessant tendency to try get into other people's social business was its own brand of trouble. Enough the lethal telepathic children already.

In no particular hurry, Karga'te got up and climbed down the wall. He had a small aircraft tied to a balcony, the swiftest local transport as far as things he could hop off easily went. Highly advanced tech with a complicated name that required a pilot's permit, which Jake had just called air bike and said he expected Karga'te to crash it a lot. He wasn't wrong, though today Karga'te got where he needed without ram course.

A quick glance was all he needed to estimate. Right. Wires now. Long ago he'd replaced his net with hooked wires, far more useful for stray animals or situations like this.

Karga'te ignored the predictable chaos. Same with the fools that tried to tell him what to do with the anchors he placed. As if they'd know better. He did have to resort to snatching an extra cable from a shop, much to the irritation of the owner, but otherwise it was the same usual boring event as every other time he dealt with machine trouble. He'd much rather deal with animals.

For as far as Karga'te was concerned, his job was over as soon as the thing was secured from falling. He'd leave others to deal with the tangle and went to the nearest food shop that hadn't been deserted.

He had money now, such a ridiculously simple and useful practice that the yautja were oblivious to. It was quick, much quicker than hunting after already being tired, let alone dragging a dinosaur home. Not that he was slacking off, but tracking tended to require the patience he often lacked. Besides, why kill something fresh when other meat was already dead?

He took the bundle of food to a rooftop and ate it there, watching the chaos below him with mild amusement. There was Hguthreeit on his little hovercraft, frantically engaging in negotiations about everything both his business and not. The flawed dock and Karga'te's less than eloquent way of dealing with it, for example. Karga'te expected to be put on the spot for it. Bastard. Karga'te knew very well the worm would end up striking more cash out of it. This city had the concept of insurance, too.

Sure enough, he was called for telepathically to come down. He didn't even consider.

Some others else called as well, them he didn't ignore. He confirmed that the noise and panic they'd heard corresponded to his location.

Ti'chai-di made their way hopping across the lower roofs towards him. Nowadays Kirindi would simply seat herself on Ti'chai-di's back, as the larger sister had gained quite some agility ever since her release. Unlike the always fit xenomorph, she needed exercise as a human would to stay mobile. That she'd gotten plenty on this planet.

After climbing up the pillar and damaging the walls, they settled next to him. More out of practice than need he handed them some of the food, weird cookie-like things made of herbs and some fruit. As Ti'chai-di took the fruit with her tongue, he noticed her scent. Quietly, he asked them how it had gone.

Kirindi shook her head, her expression depressed. "It was both, this time. Both eggs and children. And egg that was child inside. All gone now. She's so sad again."

He briefly bowed and paused eating in acknowledgment of the deceased.

That he preferred them not to survive he kept to himself, as he did of how he couldn't exactly feel sad for it otherwise. Trouble aside, he couldn't imagine caring for someone who had never even lived.

Ti'chai-di would soon enough readopt her neutral mindset, though it'd take a little longer with Kirindi to forget. It always went like that, the two would retreat somewhere for the queen sister to fail at giving birth. It never worked out well and Kirindi would mentally retreat during such phases for a few weeks.

Before her sister had come she had never been like that, she hadn't even really known sorrow. Maybe a vague hint of sadness, but nothing close to this depressive feeling. She'd never grown up and didn't know what to do with it, he guessed. He didn't either.

Kirindi finished her cookies and put her arms around her legs, rolling onto her side. "I wish she could stop having them. It hurts."

Karga'te softly pulled her tail. "She'll get better when she gets older."

Unfounded belief, yet Kirindi still brightened up. "You think so?"

"It's what you monsters do, isn't it? Take the traits useful, discard that which isn't? That DNA Reflex thing ... it'll figure something out." As if he knew anything about that.

Ti'chai-di didn't speak and never listened to specific definitions, so she could not notice this little exchange. All she could tell was that her little sister had another one of those strange moments of formless hope. She nudged Karga'te in the back to join her in that, not understanding that emotion wasn't like a controlled action.

Karga'te got irritated by it, till he turned and put his hand on her forehead, doing a similar thing as Kirindi would do that soothe her.

"You wouldn't understand," he said. Hell, he didn't understand himself, all this mushy stuff.

Another mental call came, once again it was Hguthreeit.

Strangely enough, the worm didn't even bother with scolding him for his sloppy work, though Karga'te could just hear the foul names the worm was muttering under his metaphorical breath.

"~ Karga'te, listen up. Anudjan contacted me a few minutes ago. The Auton have detected a spacecraft from a certain Enigma order heading this way. They are unable to find out its purpose. Head out into the jungle cloaked and retrieve the stray traders, now! The Auton will assist, they are at the city's edge. ~"

He froze.

Here it was. This is why he wouldn't have had Kirindi get involved with the Auton, now the humans were coming after his monster spawn! He didn't care how that Enigma thing had found out, he wanted to decapitate some Auton today.

"~ For once we agree, ~" said the Supervisor. Karga'te tried to give the worm a mental sear, but Hguthreeit only brushed it off mockingly and told him now was a time unit that meant starting to move.

Climbing on his hovercraft, he steered in the direction Hguthreeit had given him. Kirindi went on Ti'chai-di's back and followed, so he kept low to the roofs.

"~ What is wrong? ~" Kirindi asked.

"~ They're coming for you! ~"

"~ Enigma? ~"

**· · · · · · ·**

Kirindi clammed down on her thoughts. She'd gotten much better at not automatically sharing everything exciting with her father, it was her external excitement that had to be contained. The next stage was here and this meant she could meet Sarah again. She just needed things to not go wrong till all the right talking could be done. That was Sarah's job. So she kept her face the same as well as she could and said nothing.

In fact, it would be a lot easier of Karga'te wouldn't notice the psychic silence for a bit. A diversion would be good.

Upon arrival at the outer perimeter, most Auton had already moved out along with Hguthreeit's workers. Jake was there, unwilling Karga'te handler for the Auton.

All other rescued humans from Enigma II had been integrated in the Auton part of the society, but Jake and Shadhahvar had escaped this due to Karga'te sort of 'claiming' them. The Auton had let it be exactly for situations like this; Karga'te didn't readily decapitate things he considered alive, most definitely not things that were part of his proverbial property (he considered 'family' to be a stupid definition).

Jake had gotten used to facing irritated yautja on regular base, so when Karga'te came seething onto the outer dock and demanded more information, he just shamefully grinned and said he had no idea.

"Anudjan claims he already told Hguthreeit everything he knows. Nothing more than that a spacecraft from Enigma II is coming here."

Karga'te felt like roaring his anger out at said Auton, except said Auton was horribly absent and Jake had gotten so used to that it didn't make him flinch anymore. So Karga'te just kicked over a nearby pile of Auton stuff for the sake of venting.

"Eh, Karga'te, you're supposed to go help'em gather tourists, I think. Persephone's getting you a wrist map as we speak."

"I know, I've been told," he snarled.

"She said it could be a coincidence?" Jake suggested.

"Oh yeah? How far away is that ship landing?"

Jake shrugged. "Haven't got a clue."

The yautja kicked over another pile of Auton equipment and paced around the dock.

When Persephone finally joined them, he wasted absolutely no time clarifying just how pissed off he was. The usual means. Kirindi always wondered whether they really felt being hit across the place or were just programmed to react that way.

She landed a few meters aside of Jake, who reached down to help her up.

"Okay, Karga'te, that was a bit uncalled for. What if they really don't know what's going on?" he said with a scowl.

"As if! Those humans from that station are here _so the Auton screwed up_!"

Jake sighed, but when he addressed Persephone the doubt was clear on his face too. "Where are they landing?"

She still winced from the fall, but without any sound of distress said, "They're 243 miles distanced from the plateau at one of the planet's most convenient landing spaces."

Karga'te calculated for a moment to understand what about 243 miles meant in his measures of distance. "This isn't a coincidence, they are too close to this plateau!"

"Close? The market is on this area of the planet exactly because it is one of the most geographically convenient. They may have simply figured the same. It's not like there haven't been humans on this planet before!" the gynoid snapped.

It was true for a part at least. As the planet was littered with dinosaurs, it was a tourist attraction for more than just the visiting traders and shoppers. Humans liked the place too for very similar reasons and would pay richly for illegal adventures. But, those humans were tourists. These were scientists from coincidentally that one place they'd invaded in the last few months. The humans knew this planet was owned by another species and going here on any official business was risky.

Karga'te didn't buy the coincidence thing one bit, and at Kirindi's best guess, he was either very insulted they expected him to or very afraid of the consequences.

He kicked Persephone's legs from underneath her and glared down at as she scrambled away. "Quit the jokes, get me that map."

She cast him a foul glance, but pulled a small wrist band from a pocket and tossed it at him.

Ignoring her furthermore, Karga'te looked over the information of the area he was to clear. He then said, "Ti'chai-di, go home."

Kirindi put both hands on Karga'te's lower arm and stood up a little, a pleading look on her face.

"Why can't she come? She has a cloaking system," she said reflecting what her sister felt, disappointment. The actual reason Kirindi kept to herself, though. Ti'chai-di had some stake in meeting Sarah because she hoped she would be able to help her children survive, like she had done with Lemura.

"You're too large, Ti'chai-di. If we need to hide from a scan, where would we put you? You can't fit in any caves in that area." He was right, the queen chimera was a giant even when compared to him. "You'd scare the traders we're supposed to gather anyway."

Ti'chai-di did not feel like being left behind right now, still at loss over her failed children, but after Kirindi comforted her a bit, she agreed to go home.

"Why don't I go with her?" Jake suggested. Grateful, Kirindi smiled at him, eagerly nodding. "Will do."

Ti'chai-di allowed him to climb up and he stayed there despite poor balance. He did almost fall off again when she stood up too early, to brush foreheads with Kirindi once more.

As they took off and Kirindi waved after them, Karga'te brought out another hovercraft and shoved it in Kirindi's direction. She caught it and fiddled a bit before she managed to turn it on.

They were about to set out when Anudjan finally decided to show his face.

"~ Please not now. Getting too cold for stupid androids, ~" Karga'te thought. When Anudjan reached his side, he picked the Auton up, turned him around and shoved him a little too close to the edge of the dock.

Anudjan managed to catch his balance. "But I just needed to say that—"

"Whatever you want to say, I knew about it before you did. Now get lost," Karga'te said in deliberate poor English.

"I just needed to say that Mary Sue Mckenzie went the wrong direction moments ago. I'd like you to get her away from there first."

Okay, he knew everything around except maybe that. Shadhahvar's head was so chaotic and sugary happy that he tended to subconsciously omit it by proxy.

"~ Just what we could use. Disturbed humans running around without a leash. ~" Kirindi laughed at the mental image.

"~ Jake, Karga'te says you should take better care of your pet! ~" she then telepathically told Jake with a huge grin. "~ We have to catch her again! ~"

Jake replied with mock distress, "~Oh, and I just tried so hard to get rid of her. ~"

Ti'chai-di wondered why would anyone want to get rid of someone they cared for? Kirindi didn't quite understand the sarcasm in it either, but just shrugged it off.

"Let's go!" Karga'te called. "I'll go get the damn human, you start with the traders."

Kirindi aired her hoverboard and did so, though she had no intent to meet traders any time soon. Instead, she quietly eased up on the direct contact with him. With Shadhahvar soon hogging mental attention, it was be all the easier to disappear. It was so convenient Shadhahvar could be given ideas to act on so easily.

**· · · · · · ·**

Sarah plastered herself against the window, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of the planet despite being in a side room. But when the shaking began, she had to give up. Window was on the wrong side of the ship. How wonderful. She had pictured herself standing dramatically before the window as for the first time in ages she'd see green again, like how it happened in those movies she used to watch.

"Millions on a new engine, but with something to stop this bumping? No, to greeeee-yaugh!"

She sailed across the room, turned in midair to brace herself against the opposite wall and failed to do so. Her nose might as well have shot through her brain as she slammed against the wall. Her life, always with the falling and missing and what not.

"Ouch. Should've ... stayed ...friggin cryotube." Jonah had warned her when she had messed with the tube's settings before take-off. Since when was she stubborn?

The landing proceeded technically smooth and practically very uncomfortable.

When she stepped out, she took in a deep breath. Even the air was different. She could heard dinosaurs in the distance and the wind filled her ears. It was warmer here than she'd felt in a long time.

The arrival could best be described as a gigantic rock, for as much as she could see in the dimming light. Stretching around it was jungle in all directions but the east, which had a savanna. From here, they might gather a more diverse array of samples than either biome's fauna allowed. As much as she was loath of the purpose, the work had her excited alone not just because anything was better than Enigma.

Behind her, robots unloaded themselves. She resisted the urge to run down the rock and did her job. Checking on robots wasn't unfamiliar work anymore, as she'd done some of it already. They all functioned as they should, though a few had displaced parts due to the landing. Truth be said, she wasn't sure it was all just greed that kept the ship from being perfect. The ship's technology was fresh and there hadn't been much testing of its effects on regular engines.

That done, she accompanied the bot in charge of the radar to the highest spot and sat with it.

While there, it sank in that she recognized the area.

This lands, their vegetation and even the star formations were what she'd seen through Kirindi's eyes. It was disturbing how Utara had not only gotten the planet correct, but also the continent, maybe even the very region, simply by showing her images and measuring her neurological responses. Sure, the planet could be explained with the dinosaurs and all, but this accurate an idea for where exactly to land? She really hoped it was a coincidence. The idea of Utara having this much insight terrified her as much as any human knowing the same.

She wanted to wash the stench of chlorine and anything that reminded her of Enigma off of herself, but taking a dip in a local body of water wouldn't be the best idea. Her guards likely wouldn't allow it. So she just stayed where she was, with her back to the robot and the ship.

Her new sense wasn't as thrilling as she had hoped. Not being a natural clairsentient really did limit her. She got some vague impression of shapes and nearby lifeforms, but no feelings or inclinations. Nothing like actual clairsentients would describe during the rare times they were out of the psychic closet.

Wanting for something more, she dug her hands in the earth before her. How low she's sunken that she now appreciated dirt.

One of the cyborgs came to stand next to her. "It is recommended to avoid contamination and take time to adjust."

The thing stared down at her, making eye contact. It was worse than any decent Auton. Though their skin was more human, they lacked all the cognitive programming to even come close to counting as a mind. With her new

"Oh, screw you!" she said and dropped to the ground.

Sarah rolled on the ground, not caring anymore for her dignity. Let the guys at the station see this and laugh at her or question her sanity. She had earth under herself and they didn't. Their loss.

Or maybe she'd lose something too. A wave of nausea walled up. Just barely scrambled to her knees and vomited. Then she walked a few meters away and slumped down against a small rock wall.

The cyborg knelt aside of her to check her condition. She tried swatting away its hand with the scanner in it, but it didn't budge.

"I am doing wonderful, stop blocking the view!"

Not that that helped. She sat through the checkup, was informed she might be suffering delirium of some sort and told to not over exert herself. She would adjust to the local conditions soon.

_Good._

That wasn't her though or feeling. Sarah stayed still while the cyborg walked away, all her focus on the source of that.

A flash of herself from another angle crossed her mind. A human mind, somewhere around, watching?

Who?

She strained her eyes in the direction she guessed it came from.

Far away, on another end of the uneven plateau stuck up half a human head. Black hair, likely of East Asian origin.

Shadhahvar. At the moment of recognition, new information came to mind. Shadhahvar had taken on a very yautja irritating tendency to pretend to be a hunter. She failed utterly at it, and Jake had his hands full trying to keep her in check. Right now she considered herself to be on a top secret mission to hunt down the evil scientists threatening her friends, except she'd found only Sarah.

Careful not to draw further attention to herself, Sarah sat straighter and folded her hands before her to give the appearance of restful. Her mind was anything but.

Shadhahvar must've picked up some psychic potential of her own, because she spoke to her, "Wow, you sure got emaciated."

Then she vanished. Just barely Sarah saw surprised on her face; she would bet she'd fallen down.

Great. Why was this clown the first one she got to meet?

**· · · · · · ·**


	19. Play Fetch

**· · · · · · ·**

_May 19, 2578_

_Location : Kyasumeni_

**· · · · · · ·**

Along with the xenomorph and the yautja, humans were known as the three plagues of this galaxy. The xenomorph were ancient, the yautja less so and the humans had only been around for a few hundred of their own years, a speck on the length other societies had been active in the voids. However, the humans possessed a hunger that drove them to establish their power beyond reason of instinct, the kind of colonizer often wiped out by the xenomorph. Unfortunately the xenomorph a little late with the humans and yautja, both of whom helped the hard meat spread further and further.

The trading city on Kyasumeni was particularly tensed knowing humans had come with their robots and had reflexively become quiet. Uncloaked ships did not leave nor arrive, even some that did have sufficient protection dared not leave. It as way too cautious according to Karga'te, but he wasn't gonna tell anyone that cause it made it easier to get to place.

Karga'te arrived back with Shadhahvar under his arm. She had flayed her arms and legs the entire time, so he dropped her harder than he needed to. As she crawled to her feet, he stood before her and snapped his fingers to get her attention.

"You will go to Jake and tell him that Kirindi is missing. He is to get Ti'chai-di with netting on and accompany her, armed in case any enemies show up. Do you understand?"

"Yeah yeah, you already explained me that," she grumbled.

"And what are you not supposed to do?" he growled.

"Talk to the Auton about this."

"And what will I do if you do tell to anything synthetic?"

"You will reveal my secret hiding place of my Faria-herbs."

"You got it. Get on your way, I'm going to track the enemy." Karga'te cloaked himself.

The moment she didn't see him anymore, she darted off. For Jake she virtually had a special sense, which Karga'te called the supreme ability to annoy people into telling her where they'd seen him last.

**· · · · · · ·**

Jake was in the middle of hauling a crate for a small job he had a sense of impending doom.

"Yo, Jake! You'll never guess this!" Shadhahvar shrieked in his ear. He nearly dropped the crate. How had she gotten here?

"You killed the evil scientist?" he asked without really being curious.

"No, silly! It's that blond woman that helped us on Enigma Two! Off course I'm not going to kill her!"

Was she making up stuff or ...?

"Oh, and Karga'te can't find Kirindi and he wants you find her and head out with her sister to help find Kirindi and I'm supposed to not tell the Auton cause they he'll take away-"

He put a hand on her mouth. "Shadey, stop and repeat slowly. Are you certain that the woman we met there, Sarah, is _here_?"

"She looks a bit different, but yeah, it's totally here! I'd recognize that personal hygiene anywhere."

Jake groaned. According to Shadhahvar, 'lack of personal hygiene' meant anyone who didn't bother looking pretty, so it could simply be someone else who was blond.

Nonetheless, if it _was_ Sarah Driscoll, then something was up. Kirindi had dropped the slightest of hints she was communicating with _someone_ , but never had elaborated since Jake had little experience in hiding thoughts and Karga'te shouldn't find out. The yautja only had superficial telepathic powers; the Auton claimed he simply had no natural inclination towards it. That might just be their salvation, and a lot of credit to Shadhahvar for keeping her trap shut in Karga'te's presence.

"Alright. Shadhahvar, stay here and don't tell anyone else what you saw or else I will take away _all_ of your stacks. I'm going to Ti'chai-di now."

She squeaked, "You know I have more than one stack?"

"Off course I do, I know you." Actually, he didn't know _where._

**· · · · · · ·**

Eliath was as close on the trail of Karga'te as he could afford. The sisters had informed him the yautja would become dangerous very soon. He wouldn't like to learn Kirindi had kept back the presence of drones. Eliath failed to understand why exactly he wasn't allowed to just kill the troublesome hunter. Syvé had no particular use for him, he had long served his purpose by looking after Kirindi. Eliath was here to do that now. Kirindi has given him excessive information that she called emotional attachment regarding the subject, but that seemed pointless too.

But fine, he's avoid immediately attacking. As he slunk further across the land, he adapted his heat to the surrounding as to make it harder to be seen. Karga'te had light vision too, but Eliath had been informed his own color was brown and he matched certain environments.

Odygos let him know he got in position to cross the first plane. Odygos would stand out with his black and lack of heat adaption, so a diversion was needed. The drones could not grin, but if they ever had an attitude close to it, Eliath was feeling it right now.

The talent to establish a dominant hive mind anywhere was not exclusive to the Sisters. While Eliath lacked the precision for advanced commands, he had an easy time tapping into a nearby pack of Deinonychus. Thick jungle was not their territory, but the nearby carved landscape offered an alternative to divert the enemy.

As Eliath set his plan into motion, he picked up psychic hints. Karga'te had noticed Kirindi was suspiciously silent, so he tried to call out to the larger Sister. To no avail. Perfect. Eliath sent his little army on its way.

**· · · · · · ·**

The moment the yautja was led down a sheltered road and stripped of his scanner, hence forth suitably occupied by the swarm of Deinonychus, Odygos shot across the plain. Reaching the opposing jungle soon enough, he made his way to the giant rock and carefully climbed up.

The Enigma vessel was equipped with motion detectors, but had nothing like the advanced magnetic maps of the trading city. Besides, they only expected dinosaurs at most. Where human behavior itself remained an enigma, he perfectly understood these 'invisible eyes'. He found the root of the system and spat at it with precision. Over time, the mildly acidic drool would do its work.

Sarah did not remain unaware of his presence. Much to Odygos' surprise, she pleaded him not to come within her sight.

Must be some weird human thing.

Once the acid had done its work, he climbed a tree and leaped across the gap and onto the ship, right through the blind spot of the scanner.

Gurgling up acid, he made a hole where he sensed the metal was thin and not rigged. He slipped in, found Sarah's room on scent and opened the door to wait inside. She let him wait, as she had to continue her work as not to raise suspicion, so he entertained himself by investigating the fluffy things known as clothes. They were very puzzling and he couldn't grasp their meaning, never had. Such a popular habit for such a futile element.

As much as she told him not to come, she didn't have much of a choice but to try and cover up the security break, lest he risk being found and killed. Humans were so contradictory.

He was bored soon. Clothes stopped being clothes after fiddling with them a wee bit too long.

When Sarah finally entered the room, the first thing she did was whisper, "You ... ruined my favorite shirt!"

Disappointment?

Odygos straightened up and she took a step back, taking in a deep breath. She was fearful, yet acted irritated. That, and she really did find it unbelievable that she'd have her reunion with him while he was covered with torn fabric. Silly plus fear plus irritation ... that was exactly one of those human behavior things Odygos didn't get.

Words. Oh help, she thought primarily in _words and images_. His own language was far more complex, not abstract but more basic.

"~ You fools, Utara is watching, she'll find out, ~" she thought at him. It was a sentence without extra meanings and dimension, so he had to piece together what he'd heard from others.

He tried to return a sentence, but mostly just sent meanings. She was silly for worrying about that fake entity when his Mother had told she should come along, be the voice to the Sisters and the Auton.

Sarah took one cautious step closer.

"~ Look, Utara probably knows now you're here, she basically let you in. All she needs is an excuse to send a thorough investigation squad to this planet and blame me for having suggested the location to cover herself. So please, leave before the cyborg come. ~"

Odygos couldn't care less. What Mother said was what mattered and Sarah's logic was not above that. He stepped forward and intended to picked her up, but she backed away with a hefty increase of fear. It felt wrong on her; fear was only on beings his kind was to kill, not on members of the hive.

**· · · · · · ·**

With Noasyvé's call so dim, Sarah felt a lot less secure than she'd been on Enigma II. He'd been the one to stop her, and now he was here reaching into her mind without restraint. That he'd finished growing and towered over her certainly didn't help. Knowing he didn't mean her harm didn't change much to instinctive fear, something she was not above much to her dismay.

That too he found curious, yet here he obliged and stepped back. After a moment of reestablishing her self control, she pushed off the wall and walked toward the drone. He lay down and suggested she sit on his back, because whether she liked it or not, they were going to leave.

"~ One day I hope you understand what abduction means and remember I was opposed to this plan. ~"

He answered that it would be nice if she would just trust Noasyvé on what to do. Sarah wasn't sure exactly how much of this was Syvé's plan.

"~ If she says so I'd agree, but ... ~"

But then, it was too late now, she noticed now. They were already sent.

With a sigh, she stepped onto the drone's back as he held up an arm to help her. Situating her knees between the four tubes, she found that the drone's head would probably hit her if he so much as looked up. Thinking it over for a moment, she ducked and laid her head on his neck. This wasn't going to be a fun run, she realized.

"~ Be careful, okay? ~"

His reply could best be described with 'Duh'. With that, the drone stood up, walked out the door and hello, there were both of the cyborgs, as ordered by Utara.

"~ They cannot fire lasers inside the ship, ~" Sarah told him. He didn't need more explanation, ran right over one of the cyborg and out of the hole he had made earlier. A reaching hand failed at holding him back.

**· · · · · · ·**

Odygos jumped off the ship, landed into the tree he had come from and went on like that. The cyborg lacked the benefit of being very mobile in the undergrowth and could only follow by ground. Sometimes he heard the human on his back yelp as branches hit her and she pointlessly tried to hold on even tighter. It didn't take long this way before a thin scent of blood came from her, predominantly from not so shallow scratches on her legs.

The could be a problem. If _he_ was would bleed the wrong way, she would be in a lot of trouble.

Their pursuers were catching on. Two laser rays broke the dark of night, he barely avoided being hit. Energy he could not see, so his only cue was the slightest click that came whenever the cyborg fired. It would be only a matter of time before they hit him.

Where the hel was Eliath?

Oh great, still messing around with the hunter.

The tree density thinned to the point he could no longer use them to his advantage. With one last leap he landed like a cat and took off from there, right into a sleeping herd of Diplodocus. Small as he was, the creatures were a bit startled but didn't mind much, he smelled like no carnivore they knew. If he could pass them and reach the nearest opposing jungle, he might shake the cyborg. That advantage quickly changed once the cyborg fired down a few trees and then aimed at the dinosaurs in an attempt to stampede the herd.

Within seconds the dinosaurs broke into a panic. In the dark they hardly saw anything and crashed into each other as they flocked away from the forest line. Odygos darted through the stomping feet, barely avoiding being crushed. Like this he couldn't afford to leave the herd, not now the cyborg had had the chance to place themselves in his chosen escape route. So he jumped once more and clawed his way onto one of the dinosaurs, hitching a ride. The dinosaur roared in pain, but could do little against him. The spiked line atop the dinosaur's spine offered some chance to hold on and from there Odygos had a clear echo view of the surroundings.

The cyborg chased the herd in a very specific way. Sharing his thoughts with Sarah, they understood quick enough what was the plan. It didn't matter to the cyborg whether they got them alive or not, but by forcing them to go along with the herd, they were prevented from escaping to where they wanted to; an assumption made on base of the drone likely knowing the terrain better than them.

He took a chance to try and leave the herd before they reached the riverbed they were headed at. Once the cyborg would get on either side, they'd have a clear shot at the drone and his passenger.

This was a mistake, however. While the river was without stream, it wasn't dry. The impact of his jump had him sink half into the mud, by the time he struggled free the cyborg had caught up. Coming from both sides, they slowed their approach to a mere walk. Caught in between a muddy and sandy bank and the two cyborg, there wasn't a quick way out.

"Sarah Driscoll, step away," one of the cyborg droned.

She actually considered it. Her life didn't have any strong priority for these cyborg and they might just decide to shoot the drone as it was. She knew exactly that the acidic blood could either kill her or worse, leave her permanently scarred and in care of Enigma II ...

"~ Way too late too turn, ~" She pressed her head back against the back of Odygos and didn't look.

Odygos pretended to move backwards in the third direction and the cyborg expected him to try and leap over them. But instead, he quickly spat twice right at their faces, then hurling himself up the wall before them. Theoretically not their best chance, but one advantage they had in that the cyborg stopped to clear the spit off their visors.

As they climbed and the cyborg pursued, a cutting call pierced his mind. A shadow came down to meet them and reached out, forcefully hauling Odygos back up the slope with him.

Sarah had a moment to register this was Eliath and renew her fear. She didn't have to, Odygos told her. Eliath existed only for Kirindi, if she wasn't the enemy he would not do anything to her.

The cyborg fired at them, but only splinters hit the three. Eliath carried a hide bag, from which he took strange smelling rock. With a precision and speed Odygos couldn't match, Eliath tossed these up to intercept the poorly aimed laserfire. Sarah thought this was impossible, Odygos though Eliath had had too much time to kill. Before Sarah got an explanation that satisfied her, Odygos took off. Eliath would keep the enemy at bay.

They were closer now, their fire clearer. Eliath intercepted one attack, was scraped by another bolt. The loose ground gave the first cyborg no solidity when Eliath tackled him full force. Metal machine clashed with organic machine full force. Spreading the tiny feather-like extensions across his exoskeleton, he started to bleed acid all over. It sprayed in all directions and these cyborg had little to no defense against it.

Eliath hauled up the cyborg he had tackled, threw him at the other and then tackled the both of them. In the clutter their disorientation, they didn't have the time to prepare for the second attack. Eliath started picking them apart before they could get up, his blood increasingly damaging their motorization and system.

Odygos was disinterested and simply carried Sarah farther and farther, cutting her off from catching what happened to Eliath. She had her own heartbeat to battle.

**· · · · · · ·**

This would affect the area for a while, Karga'te concluded as he looked across the dead Deinonychus around him. Dammit. New ones would move in and he'd have to teach them all anew not to bother him. These ones had learned that years ago. Their behavior today made no sense, they were supposed to be the smartest dinosaurs. Irritated, he decided to contact the synthetics about this. He could just casually report the dinosaurs were acting strangely without mentioning the sisters' silence, see whether they had anything interesting to say.

He didn't even have to try to avoid bringing up the chimeras. Once he had finished a quick report, he was told to go to a certain location not too far from where the enemy vessel had landed. There were more unknown factors, apparently.

"What a surprise."

Soon he arrived at a no more peaceful dry riverbed. Auton had gathered already to collect evidence, he spotted Anudjan trying to signal him over. Oh well. He went.

The android led him to the site where a battle had taken place. Amid sand and rock lay the half melted and completely torn apart cyborg, a bloody mess of iron and flesh. Little streams of smoke wafted off of acid spots.

"A herd of Diplodocus stampeded and we found a trail leading to this location," Anudjan said. "We believe it may have been the word of a xenomorph, what do you think?"

As if that question needed any affirmation. Karga'te walked around and looked over the scene, then away at the riverbed.

"There were two of them," he said.

"Indeed. I suspect the scientists brought them along for whatever unsavory reason they might have and they escaped. It is the only explanation."

The yautja said no more and prepared to leave.

"You shouldn't go alone!" Persephone called when she noticed it. She stood up from something she'd been studying and walked closer, but not too close. Holding up her hands, she showed him a type of dense volcanic rock.

"They seem to have been burst by laserfire, nothing else could break these the way they have been."

"Someone actually used them to block laserfire? That's very hard to believe," said one of the other droids.

"Whatever we are facing, it is intelligent and capable of making advanced strategical decisions. The drone actually went out and found something to use as a self defense tool and knew exactly what they needed," Persephone said.

"How would it have time to discover the location of these things though?" the other droid asked.

"Maybe the scientists for some reason had collected the stones themselves?"

"We never noticed the scientist leave and we are fairly sure the cyborg did not either."

"The scientist is not at the ship however, we sent someone there and it's empty. In fact ..." said yet another and pointed at a form in the mud, which seemed distinctly leg like and carried traces of human blood. "... there was a human with one of the drones."

"They either kidnapped the scientist or carried along a corpse? What the heck is going on here?"

Karga'te listened over their debate, taking in what he had to know and avoiding questions of his own. They had one for him soon anyway.

"Karga'te, where is Kirindi? Maybe she can help us figure this out with her telepathy."

Nothing.

The droids already grew restless now, expecting him to lash out, but in the creeping realization of what went on Karga'te only felt cold. Little girls with great psychic power, keeping monsters secret. He didn't want this.

"That android that accompanied them to Enigma II, he was hiding something, right?" he said with actual care to make his English understandable to the droids.

"Yes," Persephone said. "Do you think—"

"I'll go hunting," he snarled. "You wanted to question Jake and Shadhahvar, right? Go ahead. Tell me what you get afterward.

Karga'te didn't wait for an answer, just jumped on his hovercraft and followed the trail. If Kirindi turned out to be a beast, he'd have to be a hunter once more.

**· · · · · · ·**

The sun rose and the stars faded in the yellow and pink of dawn, a complement to a plain so wide that one couldn't see the rainforest at the edges. As dinosaurs had no use for grass, they did not come here. It was the perfect desolate meeting point.

Here and there rocks broke the grass sea, one of which to an unexpected canyon with a small river through it : the stray arm of the now dehydrated river, curtsy of a recent storm playing with the remnants of an old earthquake. There Kirindi sat on a rock, listening to the rustle and song of birds while her mind was elsewhere, with Odygos and Sarah.

Her patience was rewarded.

The drone came to a halt right before the rocks. Sarah, nauseous once more, tumbled off and nearly threw up a second time. She was aware of Kirindi the entire time, but didn't physically notice her until she saw the double clawed bony feet beside her. Gentle hands took hold of her shoulders, pulling her up. Kirindi dropped her forehead against that of Sarah and shared her calmness, softly subduing the ex-human's physical ill feeling. Sarah relaxed at last and Kirindi silently welcomed her home to the hive mind.

Sarah's shoulders started to shake softly, until the tears came out.

Humans looked funny when they cried, they got swollen noses and red cheeks with narrow eyes and their mouths contort into strange shapes. Sorrow was not alien to Kirindi anymore, but this was the first time she saw a human being cry out of sadness. Her old human host had never looked in a mirror, after all. It probably was inappropriate that she thought it looked funny, but she didn't even know how to make that go away.

Sarah, in tune with Kirindi's mind, managed a twisted laugh.

"I'm not supposed to be human anymore," she said.

"That's okay," Kirindi said with a sincere smile. "I never was one."

"What are we doing here?" Sarah asked. It was more of a universal question, a plea of sorts to understand why she'd ended up here, like this, but Kirindi only answer what she knew.

"We talk. You can explain things, right?"

"But ... then what?"

"I don't know. Shall we go to the shadow? The sun soon comes."

Odygos set Sarah back on her feet and walked aside of her into the plants that covered the entrance. Kirindi went ahead to clear away the stone that blocked the proverbial gate. So they entered the illusion of another world.

Through the split above them light and dew drops fell down, creating a misty shimmer. The moss covered canyon deepened soon and it became moister. Ferns and other small plants grew down here, strange smelling flowers sometimes peaked up. The deepest point of the tight canyon was no longer narrow but rather wide, light falling down vaguely from above. Curly, thick bushes grew down here along the brown walls, almost like arches.

"Eyes can look down here, but won't see us, sso we can talk and I can understand and explain him then."

Sarah nodded absentmindedly.

Without words, they agreed to wait as Kirindi took care of some of Sarah's cuts, which might get infected down in this damp atmosphere. With almost detached interest, Sarah noticed that underneath her skin, she no longer had perfectly human flesh. Where should be soft, formless red was a intricate pattern visible, ever so slightly.

"You're like us," Kirindi noted happily.

"Is crying part of that?"

Kirindi nodded. "Oh yes, Ti-chai-di often needs to cry, when her children die, my little cousins. She only gets the tears though, she's bad at faces."

"They die?"

As Sarah become calmer and calmer, Kirindi told her in detail what previously she had only been able to perceive in vague dreams. Of Kyasumeni and the life here, of the Auton, of the sister and the underwater den, of the drones and of the new Eliath and of how silly Odygos could be, and off course, of Karga'te.

"See? I have sadness too, I know it" Kirindi said with a smile. "I want him to understand so badly and he doesn't care to. He is very angry right now, you see. So angry he'll be a hunter again even if he hates it."

**· · · · · · ·**


	20. Reaction Formation

**· · · · · · ·**

Sarah leaned against Odygos, who adapted his position to curl around her. There was nothing human about him, yet still ... no. Nothing human at all. Human wasn't a synonym for familiarity or consideration. It never had been.

This was her first truly conscious thought since she had arrived here. The bull brunt of the hive mind as shared between Kirindi, Eliath, Odygos and Ti'chai-di was hard to get used to, even as the latter remained only an undefined presence. Wading back to her own reasoning, it was time to ask questions.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"~ To explain me what I need to say and wait. ~"

"For what?"

"~ Until it is safe for you to go to the Auton. You must wait until my sister is close enough, she will bring you further. Father must not meet you first. ~"

Sarah had seen some of Karga'te during her vague dream visits, but now that Kirindi had shared with her what she knew of this hunter, this yautja, ... there wasn't distinct fear, but the little chimera worried for good reason. Karga'te didn't seem like someone who would calmly listen to a rational explanation. He had always seen Kirindi as a human with errors. Should he learn that she was far more of the xenomorph, he might assign her the enemy.

"I don't want him to hunt me," she whispered.

Sarah put a hand on her shoulder. " ~ Just hide. Why this whole elaborate ruse? ~"

"~ He will find our tracks even if my mind stays sealed. He already has. ~"

"You shouldn't face him!"

"~ If I were to go to the Auton after me, he would fight them too. Kill them. He doesn't understand they have a Path. He doesn't understand Eliath and Odygos have a Path of their own too. You go to the Auton and speak to them. I will try speaking to my father. ~"

Sarah did understand, even if she didn't _want_ this to make sense. The ordinary hunters were already a problem on their own. Karga'te was no more ordinary hunter.

"Alright. I will try talking to the Auton. When can I leave?"

"~ My sister will not arrive here before my father. Leave before he becomes, Odygos is faster than her. Until then, it is your turn to speak. Please? ~"

"Off course. Do you know where the Internecivus Raptus come from? This story is intertwined with it."

"I don't."

So Sarah repeated what Noasyvé had claimed. It wasn't without a little excitement, despite the mess they were in, but Sarah forgave herself that. One didn't get to relay sagas of destiny every day.

"Billions of years ago, a nation existed for whom technology and biology had become one and the same, they themselves had merged with their creations. They were the Mala'kak. Yet they had not become wiser throughout their time. War tore at their civilization, until they created the monsters that are in your DNA as a desperate means to settle everything.

They were meant as a quick plague only. Their only difference from the other creations, that which made them useful as a weapon, as that they were not linked to the minds of their creators, but to a bestial queen instead. They could not be predicted or hacked. The Mala'kak controlled them through a single queen instead, whom they held physically restrained and threatened into cooperation. Who ever had this Queen Mother had her armies too.

Immune to psychic persuasion, her children heard only what their mother told them. Their very fabric that made them contained a memory of her and no other they would obey.

Their creators kept the Queen Mother and her daughters on a single planet where they lay their eggs for harvest. But, the enemy did not sit still in face of their demise. Desperate they sent invasion after invasion to just obtain one specimen, one living queen. They failed, but soon learned something curious : queens could be bred from mere drone parts, and this led them to believe the design was not as perfect as it appeared. These queens would eventually succumb to the Queen Mother too, but the knowledge was enough. See, the time it took for them to give in was different. What if the Queen Mother was merely the strongest and there were others?

They found them, the prototypes of the Queen Mother, discarded in a place not secure enough. They revitalized them and one was a success, our Noasyvé, the Oldest Mother. She bred slowly and her children were a small number, but she never surrendered to the younger Queen Mother. In fact, she learned how to steal territory within the hive mind, a trait born from flaw and need. She altered the will of the drones to bow to her and in the process she learned to alter herself.

The sin or the virtue of independence tempted her to fight for herself not out of instinct, but desire. She had become aware of herself and her limitations and found she did not have the numbers to win against either her "masters" or the Queen Mother, so she compromised. Her enemies became her allies, for she shared her gift with the Queen Mother. She told her what the threats of her captors meant and taught her the concept of future, though she kept imagination to herself. So the creators noticed too late that the eggs they harvested no longer contained only drones, but queens too.

The Queen Mother led her children in war against their creators. Both sides fell until all of the Mala'kaks' once powerful civilizations had turned to dust. Specks still remain here and there, but not nearly as numerous a mark as the perfect beasts are. Noasyvé remained at odds with the Queen Mother, but their ways never crossed in the flesh.

Across the eons, civilizations came to power and fell under their acid blood, governed by the call of a hidden Queen. The Queen Mother was a filter for the galaxy, inadvertently allowing only the peaceful civilizations to thrive. Greed soon undid all those temped by her destroying angels.

But, then she died. One civilization overcame her, almost by accident. And all her children fell to reckless chaos, and it is because of the Hunters that this chaos spread across all of the galaxy more than ever. The Oldest Mother sought to return, but was thwarted by a single remnant of the old enemy, Shanderah. Exiled to the Void, only recently she was able to return.

She remains, she lives even after the Void, but her body is yet weak and her armies are inbuilt. Shanderah thwarted her once more and she fell in the hands of the youngest empire, the humans. Here we are now. We must free her. Her allies are already underway, but we must be ready."

**· · · · · · ·**

The way Sarah sat there, legs crosses and arms hooked before her, reminded Kirindi of meditation. In a way she did exactly that by recollecting her 'saga' to pass on.

Kirindi wasn't the sort of person to sit down and meditate. Things were as they were for her. What she did not know she did not wonder about lest it was some part of her missing, such as her sister. This Oldest Mother, Noasyvé, wasn't part of her hive. She remembered her though, it had been her who had helped her survive. Her father was someone she wasn't obligated to care for, but he _was_ part. Eliath had objected so often to that, but now he was strangely quiet. Like he had nothing left to say.

Sarah got up, the end of her story reached. Not all was told, but time was out.

If her father would tell Kirindi to die, she would not do it, but she would not be able to kill him if he would make that necessary. So she told Sarah as she escorted her outside of the canyon.

Sarah climbed on Odygos' back and held Kirindi's hand for a moment; one of those human gestures that Kirindi understood, Eliath didn't and Karga'te refused to.

"Stay alive," Sarah whispered, before turning to Eliath and the wildness of his mind. His reply was indistinct from Kirindi, for he did seem to agree that Karga'te was a danger to the point of justifying his death, while Kirindi did not. Unlike Odygos, he wasn't attuned to her guidance. Now, Eliath already was building up ferocity, which she couldn't reflect in ... yet.

Compared to Eliath, Odygos was like water, bending around her mind and complying rather than forcing. Sarah and he would head to another gap and hide there. Karga'te would likely pass them by on his way and then they would go to meet Ti'chai-di.

Sarah took a deep breath and curled up on the drone's back, and they were on their way.

Kirindi did not watch them vanish. Though her father no longer shared her mind's eyes, she would take no risk.

Long she waited, until a moon had risen and the stars drowned in the light of mid day. The heat built up and isolated the cold forms of her and the Eliath in the sea of heat.

She could see her father before he could see her. Just a shimmering dot on the far horizon.

He'd taken one of the Auton's vehicles, which he jumped off as soon as he was near. The machine continued aimlessly past them, over the canyon. It soon collided with the ground, screeching in the sand while Karga'te walked closer.

So the world closed around them.

Kirindi stood up.

"Father?"

Basic fear was not and never had been included in her chemical blueprint, but remnants of it remained in her mind's structure. It was not fear for harm, but something much more like the childish bafflement at being threatened by someone one trusts. Even if he sealed his mind from her, she could see the predator in his movement, his eyes, the way his mandibles sometimes flared. It was wrong that this hunter came for her, but she could only accept it, for the alien within her held no space for delusions.

"What is this?" he asked in the tongue of Hunters.

"He is my guardian, father," Kirindi muttered.

"So you are kainde amedha after all. I guess that makes me the yautja."

Years ago there had been a girl named Shioying, a human child who found the wrong toy. It hadn't mattered when she cried and begged, because the humans hadn't understood. Neither had the yautja, but throughout the pain of change, she had been certain he had helped her ... had he?

It didn't matter though. Now he stood before her Kirindi, he just as unable to understand her as when he had the human girl.

Eliath stood up behind her. She didn't have the power to stop him, for he too held no place for delusions. What he knew, that he knew : a hunter had come for the one he was meant to protect. And protect he would, starting with that plasma caster and a well aimed shot of acid blood ...

**· · · · · · ·**

Sarah and Odygos emerged from their hiding spot the moment Eliath told them to. Odygos shot off across the grassy plane like a bullet.

Even an alien drone could be driven to exhaustion, if one tried long enough. Odygos would gladly test his limits for her in a run to Auton, perhaps not only because she wanted it, but he too. The trance-like race soon started to feel like running through the sea, and just as soon faded away.

Sarah became aware of Ti'chai-di before she could see her. The sister held no particular interest in Sarah, did not reach out, yet was inescapable all the same. Sarah found herself swept almost away in her chaotic thoughts.

In the shaking air, her stealth form did not become visible for a long time. Even once she uncloaked, she did not stand out in these bright surroundings. Much like how Jonah had once encountered her, a ghost. The queen chimera was like Jonah had described her, an animal or a child desperate for guidance, but not necessarily needing profound affection. However, she was calmer than he had claimed and did not force emotions on her, perhaps because she now had her little sister near.

The two beasts stopped at the same time. From behind the white corona of the queen a tan man jumped off.

Sarah needed a moment to recognize him, for she had only ever seen him in the darkness and different clothes.

"Jake?"

He stopped shortly before Odygos. "Sarah ... I can't believe it."

"You better," Sarah said as she staggered off the drone.

"Yeah ... Shadhahvar was correct for once. Seriously, wow. Where's Kirindi?"

"She's diverting that hunter to buy me time. I need to get to the Auton and explain them everything now."

"No, she's hoping he'll see her again," Jake muttered. "I don't think he'll be able to hurt her, not from what I've seen."

"You _think_? I've witnessed this twice already. It's Hive Rejection, a psychological response of people who are forced into the hivemind. Humans have a part of their brain that perceives telepathic information in stagnation, but it can be woken up when put under exposure. People who are forced will go into a frenzied rebellion once they reach the phase directly in between dependence and individuality."

Jake took her at the shoulder and a shock went through her. "Only one I'm seeing getting hazy is you. Are you alright?"

No, for so many reasons, but none of them were telepathic. She brushed his hand off.

"He is trying to kill her already," she whispered. "I willingly entered the hive so it never happened with me, but it happened to my old friend Jonah, it happened in Enigma II to Schrödinger, it happened just before I left the station to Jay and it happened to the yautja that betrayed Syvé!"

"Right, lots of names I don't know what to do with. Look, lady, wake up and think clearly. We can't just go to the city, they're n—"

"He thinks he's being forcefully controlled. He responds with the opposite emotion of what he experiences, he doesn't want to so he does, and that's the real fake thing and ... and ..."

And what? Sarah didn't even know how she knew half of what she said.

Jake sighed. "You guys are lost. Your messenger can't even handle this situation."

"What? I just need to talk to the Auton!"

"Sarah, if those androids learn about Karga'te fighting an alien drone, they're gonna open fire. I know these people. The android that helped us? He wiped his memory to protect these drones. They're not on your side, we have to be careful."

"They have to be, they've got to stop the fight and —"

Jake and rubbed a hand through sweaty hair. "Right, right ... maybe we can isolate one of them before the whole mass comes, talk to that one ... you able to handle a weapon?"

"No."

Jake pulled his cargo off of Ti'chai-di, showing her a few guns he'd brought along. "Then just help me recharge, maybe you can read my mind on how to do it or something. I'll floor a few guys and you can drag them over here and talk to them. Find some shelter too..."

She heard him talk, but it didn't mean much anymore. It had started.

"Stop it you fool! Stop it!" Sarah screamed. Her eyes became wide and started to hit around her. Jake clutched the weapons close and backed away. When she saw him draw away, she made a jump for it.

"Give me that! We have to go back, stop him, stop him!" But Jake only held onto the weapon higher. Sarah wrenched at it with inhuman strength and got it loose, but it was snatched from her hands by even greater strength. Odygos would not be caught in the frantic despair of Ti'chai-di and Sarah.

He tossed it back to Jake. With some difficulty, he explained at the chimeras here would not be able to help for the time being. But maybe he could?

**· · · · · · ·**

"Look at the drone fighting for his queen!" Karga'te mocked.

Kirindi had hunched up like a ball, peering at sand that melted in her blood and a few of her tears. She clutched her left arm close, part of the skin had ripped off and revealed the dark exoskeleton underneath. Eliath had not been quick enough to intercept Karga'te, and she herself had not had enough ... will? Comprehension? Or perhaps, it was denial after all. It didn't matter. It shouldn't matter. He'd seen what telepathic monsters disguised as people could do, and eventually they would.

In mind she screamed for him to listen, but Karga'te heard only encouragement for the monster before him. Her guardian, who had formed a wall between him and his prey. Today, he hunted those who could think.

His brother once had taught him that if one got stuck in a hive, if nothing else works, then kill the queen. He didn't care for the details anymore, now he wanted to do only what he was said to be born for. To hunt. For once it felt right.

If only the wall let him pass.

Karga'te feigned darting aside and Eliath's movements changed to catch him to the right, but Karga'te jumped overhead instead. Faster than Eliath expected, he had a moment of advantage. Only a moment. Eliath twisted half over himself and dug his teeth in Karga'te's legs.

Karga'te collided with the ground. Eliath couldn't quite bite through the metal, but refused to let go, waiting for his acid to eat through. Karga'te grabbed for one of the blades at Eliath's arm and tore his fingers open trying to unbalance him, to no avail. The jaws dug deeper through the metal.

Better some than all.

He set his free foot against the shoulder of the xenomorph and kicked off at the same moment he drove his wrist blades into the alien's jaw, a familiar trick.

Eliath shrieked and stumbled away, flesh tearing loose. Karga'te was back on his feet, not without effort, only to be pummeled by Eliath. In the blink of falling back, he locked eyes with Kirindi.

She didn't hate him, she just grieved.

Queens did not have faces to look sorrowful and yautja were not supposed to have eyes to acknowledge that. But the proof that the creature there was a queen, it was before him, did it not? It was digging its razors into his flesh and claws tried to break his weapons, its blood burned through his skin.

Why wasn't he dead yet?

The thing pinned him to the ground, then grabbed his arm and twisted loose the blade gauntlet; it knew how to. Xenomorph weren't supposed to be this smart.

He'd been a fool driven by rage to pick a fight with a thinking xenomorph. Taking on a praetorian as a lone hunter who still did not have experience with them, that was how the fools were weeded out.

The thing hauled him up by his arm and threw him away away from Kirindi. He couldn't land with this leg and rolled further, almost into the canyon. His enemy dropped on all fours and chased right after him. Yet still he did not strike to kill, instead throwing him into the gap.

Karga'te barely registered the fall, but the collision with the ground sent a dull thump through his body. There he lay still. A shadow in the light above indicated the drone and how soon he'd be down here and ...

The canyon was deep, he had bounced off extrusions from the wall several times. He should have broken something by now, shouldn't he?

Kirindi still whispered in the back of his mind, still pleaded, but she said something a little different now. Eight years ... memories surfaced from across that time. There had been a few times here and there where he'd fallen, or been thrown, or moved wrong. There had been pain, but nothing too bad ... he's shrugged it off with resilience, or gravity being lesser her. Thinking on medical things wasn't his thing.

Kirindi said she wasn't the only monster here disguised as people.

As if to drive it home further, the xenomorph began to climb down the wall, jumping from one to the opposite. Its blood and tail loosened rocks all over the place until it collapsed. With a torn but unbroken body, Karga'te struggled to get out of the way, but soon the chunks grew too heavy and he was half buried.

Quite at ease, his enemy climbed down to the trapped yautja with taunting slowness. He stepped onto the yautja and with a few swipes, he cleared away the rubble before Karga'te face, releasing his arms. All the while, he broke a crude mental bridge to the yautja's mind and compelled him to simply look at his injuries. He refused, but the will was almost like the scent of flesh on a predator, as if tugging his instincts ... he had to look.

The removal of the gauntlet had peeled off his skin along, but most of the muscle tissue was intact. The xenomorph closed a claw around it and tore loose a his skin from wrist to elbow.

Look again.

Unlike flesh and more like some elastic yet hard matter it drew together, bound by strings and an artificial row of lines ... He'd seen similar once.

Gripped by panic he scratched open his arm further, feeling the same hard biomechanic fabric under his deceptively normal skin. His blood was more yellow than it should be, and there was less of it.

The xenomorph stepped off him and turned around on all fours, so that Karga'te could see the resemblance between their arms.

There and then, he realized with an eight year delay that he might've died back then.

It only acted as a xenomorph. They did not kill their own unless for a purpose. Another thing Nra'tex-ne had taught him. It was _against_ its instincts to do this. Unlike a xenomorph, despite those instincts it wanted to see him dead. He was a traitor to his kin, something that should be impossible for this very hive. It didn't act on it, but it wanted to and made sure Karga'te knew this. It wasn't Kirindi's orders.

Xenomorph were not supposed to have individuality.

It replied wordlessly, it had individuality and was meant for it.

Just like everything here.

All the same kin.

Rage possessed Karga'te, not born from honor or instinct, but his basic sense of self. He wanted that monster dead, as if it would undo this transformation.

Roaring coarsely, Karga'te struggled free from the rocks, but it only stepped back and watched, openly sharing a sense of amusement at his pathetic efforts. On damaged legs Karga'te threw himself on the xenomorph, but with mocking ease he was knocked down again. Trying to tackle the sun might have been just as fruitful.

Almost as if hearing a real voice, it called the yautja out as one of his kind, yet a disgrace; like an echo of treachery that Karga'te had committed years ago. Then, that had been _for_ , rather than _of_ his family. Why would it respect him, if he had forsaken this right by trying to take the life of the child they both should protect?

But it did not mind being his replacement. Simultaneously it tried to provoke to and discourage the yautja from returning to the hivemind. In the midst of its relentless taunting, Karga'te saw only one thing clearly : his enemy had a solid Path and a name of his own. It had been given to both and he liked them.

Karga'te on the other hand saw every reason to dislike his own path, if his self-made fate meant to die on this dirty floor in the earth.

A soft sandy noise sounded behind him, and the xenomorph took a few steps back. Kirindi's two-toed feet appeared aside him, a few meters away. She knelt down, still clutching her injured arm. Her large dark eyes gently but wearily looked at him. Eliath came to stand behind her, feather blades still extended should he try anything, but he also withdrew his mental hold on Karga'te.

Karga'te was painfully reminded of a scenario long ago, where he should have been in the praetorian's position.

"His name is Eliath. His path is only to protect me," Kirindi whispered. "Odygos is the name of my other new friend. He path is also to protect, Sarah in specific. I can explain more, will you hear now? Please?"

"I don't care," he eventually said, but the very fact he spoke betrayed the lie. He did want to know.

"Sarah chose her path because ... I don't know. She never told me. But she wants to free the Oldest Mother because she thinks she deserves it," Kirindi continued. "My sister, she has no Path she can tread, but the Oldest can give her one, she hopes."

Having said that, she crawled closer and reached out her damaged hand. Karga'te didn't wait to find out what for, he dragged himself away quickly. She withdrew her hand, but didn't back away. He reached the opposite of the canyon, slumped down against the wall. They eyes met still. He couldn't read her.

"You are her child too, of the Oldest Mother, for she thought you'd follow a path aside of me any way. That's why you didn't die that day. Meke'tor was a mistake, that's why he never changed inside. Like you, like Sarah ..."

A soft telepathic push tried to persuade him to open up, for she wanted to let him receive in clarity. Little facts from his own memory crept up and supported the strange awareness of this hivemind; like the way he had gotten involved in the egg case, like the times he could have died on this planet, like a prayer he had never spoken, asking for a second chance.

This was not the sort of second chance he had in mind, but it was a similar path nonetheless ... and again, he was failing it. His mental defenses faltered as those memories returned, of his brother and the children and the futile desire for revenge that had led him where he had ended up ...

The moment he let go of his resistance, he learned nothing was forcing him into anything.

"What about you?" he asked, with nothing but weariness left in his tone.

Kirindi smiled a little and said, "I'm _here_."

She crossed the space between them. There, she hunched before him, closing her eyes and gently setting her forehead against his, as she always did with her sister.

"Father, I am here and now. Will you know me again?"

Karga'te let go of a breath he had been holding. So the Hunter passed away from his brief existence and with him the sight of prey. Her silent laughter replaced it, along with her embrace. For once, it didn't feel like humiliation.

**· · · · · · ·**


	21. View Answer

**· · · · · · ·**

Eliath's instincts of duty and rhythm of survival were not wide enough for enigma.

The once-yautja returned the embrace absentmindedly, while his thoughts grappled with the reality of being part of a xenomorph hive.

Eliath knew things like forgiveness and regret existed, but they'd never concern him. They were relevant now, somehow. His Mother was asleep and gave no clear answer. Karga'te was part of the hive, but defective. Odygos was also defective, according to Eliath, but not in any way that hindered the execution of their duties. At least not so far. Karga'te did. Yet he was going to live. Kirindi decided to not respond to his murder attempt. It was against logic.

Odygos also responded wrong. He was _pleased_. Odygos claimed it wasn't about the events, but the resolution of Kirindi not dying. Well, that at least Eliath could agree with, even if he did not feel it himself. This situation was _not_ optimal and he would rather _not_ settle for less, but it was not his choice to make. Mother said he had to cooperate with the hunter. Something to do with _psychological diversity, social relations_ and _adaption powers_. Especially the social relations part was important.

He dared argue. While Eliath understood that he failed the myriad of methods of interaction with other species, he didn't see why Karga'te was useful. Thinking before acting was _not_ beneficent. Being able to ignore family ties _was_ harmful. Mother's drowsy answer was that sometimes, kids should just shut up and observe to learn.

Odygos seemed eager for the understanding and knowledge of all those things. Why not alter Odygos to do the diverse mind thing?

Oh. Mother could not make new identities. Identities grew. It needed time.

Considering time had almost seen Kirindi killed by her 'father figure', Eliath thought it was a horrible ingredient.

Yet, Kirindi was happier than he had ever known her to be. It was senseless, but for her sake Eliath kept low on murderous thoughts towards the hunter. Not because he cared for how it was bad to hurt someone's feelings, but simply a logical pursuit of the order that he was to keep Kirindi in best of health. As elusive as the concept was, happiness was health and this at least was an order he wanted to carry out.

Next up was getting the Auton aboard. If they got hostile too, Eliath wasn't gonna hold back again.

The hovercraft was too small to transport everyone along, so Karga'te just got on the front seat,with Kirindi leaning on his shoulders as she stood behind him. Eliath was left to run along.

As Karga'te eased back into the shared mind, he became fully aware of the two additions and he had opinions. According to him, Eliath was a straight forward warrior with a healthy dislike of him that he'd gladly make mutual, while Odygos was an idiot with too much pointless thoughts.

Well, the first feeling was mutual and the latter was likely the only opinion they agreed upon.

**· · · · · · ·**

Jake here. He ebbed into everything. Strange thing. It was silent, he thought of everything as voices.

Old Mother. Ancient Mother. Always there. Had always been there. Aside of her. Asleep. Stagnant. Powerful. Jake didn't get it yet. She didn't get it yet. Sarah didn't get it yet. Didn't get it yet.

Androids. Gynoids. Get them.

They had to talk to an Auton. Autons did not like talking today. They shot today.

She liked Kirindi. Sarah helped. Odygos was a friend. Friends could betray. Karga'te betrayed too. Yet he was back now. Strange. Jonah had not come back. Karga'te was back. Why the difference?

They shot at Odygos. She did not like that. She tried spitting. She had seen it done. It melted the enemy.

"No, Tishaidi, you killed him," Sarah yelped. "Don't!"

"~ Ti'chai-di ~"

Sarah said it wrong. A click after ti, rolling chai, di in a lower tone.

Oh, killed it. That was a negative now. But it was enemy?

"We needed to talk to him," Jake explained. "Pretty sure that with the head burned, that ain't gonna happen."

Jake was good at explaining. He didn't lie, she could tell. Nice.

Another Auton was nearby. She would not spit this time.

Oh, Odygos would do it. That would work. She didn't have enough spit right now anyway.

Kirindi was approaching. She missed her. Not for long. Soon here.

Eliath was scary.

"Sarah, a word with you, ehm ..."

"~ Jake, you can talk telepathically with me. ~

"~ I'm picking up some strange things here ... I don't think I ever left the hivemind ... but I didn't feel the others and ... look, correct me if I'm wrong, but who is Syvé exactly? Ti'chai-di thinks of her as the Old Mother, some sort of super power that could control all xenomorph. Like the Queen Mother, but she's supposed to be dead. ~"

"~ Syvé is something greater. She reigned not because she was in a long war with ... how do I tell you this without sound crazy? The pantheon of the yautja. She's only recently been able to revive. ~"

"~ I think I will need more explanation about that yeah ... so, Syvé is going to replace the Queen Mother once she gets free, regenerates and is fully awake. Sarah, the Auton know the Queen Mother had the ability to influence the mentally weak to serve her. Barging in and saying _hi, we want you to team up with her even more powerful replacement_ is probably not going to be very convincing in the ethical department. ~"

"~ We have a similar enemy, and I'm sure the Auton will understand if they know the full situation. Y-921 understood, didn't he? ~"

"~ Y-921 erased his memory to protect us. Sarah, look, the Auton are like, goodguys who want to save the world. We're just serving our own interests right now. No wait, skip that. We're serving the interests of a weapon of mindless mass destruction. ~"

"~ She is not a mindless weapon!~"

Jake didn't like that. Felt bad somehow. Couldn't tell the details.

Odygos got an android. Jake got robes. No, ropes. Ties. Sound language, that was such a weird thing. Got could mean totally different things. Probably why lying worked so well with it.

The android had expressions. Fake fear. Trepidation. Anger. Hesitation. None of them. But it looked like it. Their hive mind was different. She couldn't get it.

"Listen to me. We are here to negotiate, tell Anudja—" Sarah blurted out.

"We suspect what she is. Don't waste your time trying to win our trust, you are no longer yourself."

That was a funny thought. Was sharing minds making someone different? Into the hivemind here, was that changing? Not true anymore, once you were.

Sarah flinched. Stopped. Waited. Stored that thought. Weird. To Ti'chai-di, it was another question, just to ask Kirindi later, maybe. She tended to forget.

Ti'chai-di changed focus and tuned in to Karga'te. He would not like her eavesdropping, but he did not notice now, so no harm done.

The worm was amusing anyway. They always had been, with that game of theirs.

"~ Oh look, you're a little bit less of a bastard now. How did that happen? ~"

"~ Shut up, Hguthreeit. We're in trouble, help out already! ~"

"~ Oh yes, the Auton are really curious at the location of your girl ... and her company. ~"

"~ What? How much do you know? ~"

"~ Let's see, I know little Kirindi has been hiding two xenomorph drones from you for quite some time. Their mom sent a messenger for some reason. You're all in deep shit now. That's about it. ~"

"~ Then you know enough. So? ~"

"~ You know what's hilarious? That this is what it took for you to figure out you don't actually hate being glomped. ~"

"~ Oh, would _you_ like to try? ~" He sent along a mental image of decapitated worm.

Hguthreeit thanked him by sending back an image of Karga'te's lunch turning sentient and making a move on him, and a sarcastic compliment on Karga'te's originality. Ti'chai-di didn't understand sarcasm well, but according to Odygos it was an insult. A hurt with communication.

Karga'te replied with the psychic equivalent of soaking the Auton base with gasoline and lighting a match, rather than his usual hurl-the-furniture-out-of-the-window method.

It actually worked a little, and the worm turned more serious now.

"~ So, what is the story anyway? ~" Hguthreeit asked.

"~ There is a human somewhere out there, from those Enigma stations. She's that queen's ambassador. Want answers, get her. ~"

"~ If those data obsessed idiots would have any common sense, they would contact _me_ and ask what _I_ can get to know about you. All they said so far is that you might be a traitor if you return, being brainwashed by something. ~"

"~ Looks like I'm really taking the match to the place. ~"

"~ Hmm, take over the android headquarters? Sure, why not? I'll just declare them troublesome renters. ~"

"~ Are you okay with getting involved? ~" Kirindi sent. First thing she'd said all along. Was she alright?

"~ Those Enigma machines were destroyed already, I'm pretty sure soon humans will come to figure out what screwed up their superweapons and how. I may own this planet, but there's a reason I'm not letting humans in the market. I'm evacuating the market if Enigma comes. Better make sure we have all forces here in tune with me, cause I can tell you an evacuation _won't_ happen in time, ~" Hguthreeit said.

Ooh, they were going to play hostile take over! She knew that game, she had learned it from Jonah before he turned enemy! It was the very first thing they had played!

Sarah flinched again. Both humans turned their heads to Ti'chai-di, eyes wide open.

"Karga'te wants to do _what_ now?" Jake said.

**· · · · · · ·**

Three xenomorphs with some a yautja, human and Deinonychus genes thrown headed to a gate in a far side of the plateau, albeit by two different routes. It was a tourist exit once, but now off access because the associated halls were used for organizing military effort.

Odygos caught Sarah up to what life here was like with more flourish than Kirindi's single sentence, "we have a job on the market but I'm not allowed to add people to the family." Odygos had opinions.

Karga'te and Kirindi's jobs handled wild beasts, illegal imports and criminal activity in general, anything that required brute force. Odygos wanted to be part of this because it seemed like a lot of fun to infiltrate things and then scare people.

Smaller disputes that required the tact Karga'te lacked so much was handled by Hguthreeit's people, who had a fighter class. They might not be as potent with the psychic power, but had enough strength to handle themselves. Odygos wanted to be part of this too because even if he just got to haul around some people, it'd still be fun. He wanted to know to what extent he could push minds.

He also introduced her to the supervisor of the market, Hguthreeit. This person was what humans called the sarsathrizmat species, or culture, or nation. They weren't sure yet. Hguthreeit had technically bought the planet from humankind, but had never disclosed the hosting of an interstellar market. The whole point was to have one that didn't involve humans, though they had allowed the Auton to take refuge here on a technicality. Similar technicalities were now letting xenomorph inside. Any potential evacuation of the market, should humans come, was to be kept a secret. So for now, the drones were friends of Kirindi who had bad blood with the Auton.

Sarah wondered how Hguthreeit felt about their enterprise being ruined by her presence, but got no word from it. Hguthreeit themself only chattered along with Odygos on how annoying Karga'te could be. It disappointed her a little she couldn't find out more with telepathic powers, but it made sense. It was natural to the sarsathrizmat, after all, and if Hguthreeit owned planets they were surely among the oldest.

Hguthreeit seemed to run the place with deft engineering. When Sarah concluded that the amount of Auton would be a certain kind of threat, Hguthreeit simply leeched some armed guards from traders who owed them favors. For them, the cover story was. Hguthreeit's weird hiring habits had already prepped them for whatever they could be asked.

Sarah didn't actually know so much about Auton, but she'd once studied historical reports of conflicts with them for a story she'd been writing. Hguthreeit was able to decide things from those memories Sarah never noticed. Odygos mentally was right on top of that the entire time, moreso than Sarah herself. He wanted to know so much, while Sarah just wanted to get to negotiations as soon as possible.

The market had somehow been carved under a massive plateau. She only saw a glimpse of the wide opening on one side, where massive enforced pillars stood. The technology used to keep this place standing had to be marvelous and advanced, yet the hall she entered looked like little more than a crude cave with the barest of needs. A few crates there, poorly secured weapons, a few supportive beams.

Sarsathrizmat of the fighter class were wormlike entities with many small eyes on either side, about two meters long. Blubbery as they were, Sarah had a hard time imagining how they fought. They held vaguely gun like things in their extensions, which they raised just slightly as she stepped into view. Their telepathy quickly linked with her and affirmed she was no threat. There was a vague sense of hello in there, but she had no idea how to communicate, or whether they already were communicating.

When Ti'chai-di stepped in they didn't react, but a group of other aliens further down the hall flinched. They knew her enough, but that didn't take away the fright so many held for the biomechanoid monsters. Ti'chai-di slipped her face from below her corona, which helped a little. The uncanny effect of her skull like face under the hood was lost of most alien species, who had little innate sense of what a human was supposed to look like. She had eyes, that mattered.

But with Eliath and Odygos gliding into the hall, all sleek sharp death on feet, the response was screams and a few bolting out of the hall. They'd expected more chimeras.

Jake hopped off Ti'chai'di and ran up ahead, making calming noises. He knew a few of them by name and spoke a language she didn't recognize, but she could follow along telepathically.

Hguthreeit joined in, and then she saw them. Much smaller than the fighter class, they sat atop an overlook on the other end of the hall and ... waved with a tiny chubby appendage. While the Jake spoke with some of the none worm aliens, Odygos trotted in Hguthreeit's direction.

**· · · · · · ·**

Karga'te watched from a perch on a stored spacecraft in a shadowy corner of the hall, its highest point. Kirindi hovered around the floor level somewhere, but he didn't keep close tabs on her. He didn't know what she'd expect from him now.

The hivemind was stronger now Kirindi added in two more to cycle thoughts through. Jake's even mind stayed similar, Shadhahvar's chaos was an ebb and tide, both like a background, or standing on the side. Kirindi remained the enhanced center with her sister as the power core. The drones were simpler yet so much more pronounced than any of them, though. To them it felt most natural to be in this formation; Eliath a sharp thoughtless knife and Odygos like water that might turn to ice.

Then there was Sarah. The moment they shared mental halls, she claimed space despite not even trying.

While Jake stepped off of Ti'chai-di soon, Sarah let Odygos carry her to the hall's center first. Something about her whole attitude, how she seemed to come down from a mount rather than an ally, the way she looked around to evaluate everything. She acted and thought like she was a key in grand events, not unlike Meidache when she was chosen to lead a hunt.

Sarah observed him, telepathically, or at least tried to. Kirindi enhanced a little what thoughts she strew around unguarded. At first Sarah thought he just wasn't skilled enough to consciously contact her, but now they met eye to eye, it did not take her long to realize he kept her at bay.

She saw him as arrogant for choosing that position. Ironic, considering she thought she knew so well. Sure, he sat here like he owned the place, but that was because he pretty much did. He was going to lead the battle with the Auton, after all, why have pretenses about it?

Sarah glared at him as she walked past. According to her, his earlier actions should mean he should torment himself and instantly become humble about everything, as if making a mistake — no matter how intense — condemned one to one mood for months. Alright, that was it. Roaring insults at her would make a bad impression on his little army, so he just did the silent variation of it : he bombarded Sarah with the psychedelic equivalent of a xenomorph choir, curtsy of Shadhahvar's mind.

Both her walk and her thought process stopped. She staggered on her legs for a moment.

"~ How I deal with my mistakes is none of your business. Learn your place, ~" he sent with a verbal rattle.

Sarah gave no outward sign of recognition, but mentally steeled herself. Amateurishly, at that. Karga'te hadn't realized before today how much of an advantage he had with just eight years of being linked to Kirindi. Oihana hadn't been kidding when she said spirit speech could be refined without noticing.

"There used to be a time when people greeted each other with things like handshakes, hello and exchanging names. I remember that, the long ages of an hour ago," Jake said with a sigh. Poorly receptive as he was, he had not realized Karga'te's greeting till he detected Sarah's somewhat pained expression and Shadhahvar's confusion.

"Apparently not here," Sarah grumbled. At that, Kirindi hopped up to her and hugged Sarah's right arm.

"It's okay now," she assured her. "Really. He won't fight us again. Don't be angry anymore?"

Everything about Sarah said it _wasn't_ okay, to Kirindi's disappointment. Sarah just ignored Karga'te from then on and went to the nearest important looking person. Odygos and Eliath had next to no qualms about killing and were a little too agreeing with Karga'te on the Auton not counting as life, so she wanted to ensure that the survival of the Auton was understood as a necessity.

Her effort to telepathically speak were wasted, since Hguthreeit addressed her outright. After flatly stating she was not skilled enough to communicate with these people, he assured her the survival of the Auton was a priority. Then, much to Kirindi and Jake's pleasure, he did do a traditional hello. Traditional for his culture, anyway, which involved throwing coughed up hairballs at one another. He offered to do it with psychic simulation, but Sarah just shrugged and said she'd catch and throw back. She wasn't averse to icky things anymore. That done, Hguthreeit eased them into a more casual open range psychic conversation.

"~ So, miss Sarah, when can we expect your human keepers to show up here? ~" Hguthreeit asked.

"~ Utara will not let them come when there is a chance that the humans might discover what state I am in, because that will inevitably lead to them finding out that what it is up to. It will make certain they don't gain an interest in me along the way. ~"

"~ Why does it want to come here? ~"

"~ I think for Ti'chai-di. I'm speculating here, but Noasyvé agrees with me. Utara needs the chimera for something. Anyway, who are all these people here, can we really trust them? ~"

"~ As certain as the stock they hold in this city. Granted, I have had to tell them this is merely a clean up session, since Auton overstepped their bounds by threatening the city guards. If my marketeers find out anything beyond that, it's going to get as ugly as a sapient xenomorph queen taking over the world could inspire. ~"

"~ Alright. What exactly have you told them about the drones? Odygos informed me of a few things, but he's not got the best evaluation of what details are relevant. ~"

"~ That they obey the queen, which they is Ti'chai-di. I considered telling them Kirindi held the reigns, but she is too controlled and that may be an issue if something goes wrong. Am I correct in assuming unpredictable behavior by those two? ~"

Sarah smiled, casting a sideway glance at Odygos. "~ Perhaps. ~"

"~ Well then. One more thing. I would appreciate it if you tried cooperating with Karga'te. He knows his place already. ~"

"~ But he ... he tried to _kill_ her. Just like that. Are you aware? ~"

Hguthreeit let an uncomfortable silence hang between them, with a narrow eye on Karga'te as he sat beyond Sarah.

"~ He did do that, yes. He stopped. Is your queen gambling planets for her nebulous goals going to stop any time soon? ~"

Sarah had nothing on that and quietly conceded. Karga'te would've enjoyed that if not for the sinking realization that his home was going to be ruined. Again.

"~ Then as he said, let him handle his things and you handle yours. Once this mess is over, preferably. ~"

"~ You are right, I will keep my mind focused on my task. ~"

"~ Excellent. Remind me later that I owe you to give some suggestions on how to get on Karga'te nerves. ~" With that, he sent her some quick information on the feud he held with Karga'te, because of course he would. Wonderful. Considering Sarah's grin, Hguthreeit just got himself an ally.

"~ Hey, Hguthreeit, while you're at offering her stuff, why not teach her how to keep her thoughts to herself? I'm still picking your chattering. ~" Karga'te threw in.

Sarah quietly reminded herself she had more dignity than to take bait.

**· · · · · · ·**

Odygos was content. The plan was back on track and he would be able to carry out his duty. Best yet, this was all so entertaining compared to the monotone time underwater.

Sarah was amazing. He had never really met her when she was not fully under his mother's guidance, let alone away from Enigma's oppression. She did intense emotions _all the time_. Especially hate. Personally he preferred the emotion of joy, but since Karga'te also did a lot of anger, it probably was going to be theme. Eliath was also contributing his touches of negativity and Ti'chai-di had this weird desire to kill something all the time because her own children died a lot. Oh, and Ti'chai-di liked Sarah, they both hated Jonah. Silly mind, they were so different.

Anger got old quickly, but now there were so many different variations of it. He anticipated seeing them all clash. It had already started with Karga'te and Sarah. Though, it made Kirindi sad. Sadness was something like the opposite of fun. He disliked it, unlike the potential consequences of anger.

In contrast, the imitation humans he was ripping apart right now didn't seem to do emotions at all. Really weird, they did have expressions. The flesh covered metal from before had not bothered with that at all, according to Eliath. Kirindi claimed these things here _were_ alive but hidden, much like a different hive is telepathically somewhat sealed. Karga'te said they _weren't_ alive, because they were just very advanced machinery.

Conflicting theories. Hmmm ... _irritating_.

Oh well. Overall, this hostile take over thing was delicious. Hguthreeit had made the plan and produced some technology that sent waves ahead, which would slow down the squishy machines and their cooperation. Something like that. Karga'te made some creative improvements on the actual invasion plan, and now they led the swarm of marketeers, armed to the teeth, into the halls of the Auton. Strategy was fascinating, now why couldn't he have an instinct for that?

It was too easy to make them stop, the fake humans. They shot at him, but he kept too much cover. There was pain when his back's tubes were hit, his head scraped, but that was trivial in face of the mixture of chaotic emotions and information he was now experiencing. Stimuli!

Oh look, that was the Auton who had helped them on the Enigma II station. 921-Y. Kirindi had said he had forgotten all to protect them. Especially don't hurt him, he will probably be an ally again.

Too bad this Y-921 was currently shooting at him, right from a hall where Odygos needed to go for the plan. See, there was one particular Auton he had to obtain while the others got to wreck a power source. Now why couldn't he do that? He'd done it before.

Irritated, he leaped out at Y-921 and tore off a leg.

Lots of white blood. Maybe went a little too far?

Reconsideration of past is pointless, Eliath randomly told him. Odygos wondered whether he had missed something, then remembered he should stop now. Don't destroy their cores. Future helpers.

As he passed an open space a little too late, he was hit. Screeching he fell to the ground, pain shooting up through his leg.

Now this was so not supposed to happen.

Distracted by his thoughts. Maybe Eliath had a point about contemplation being bad and _duty_ the only duty they should focus on.

Enemy approached. Stupid.

He faked having trouble getting up, when they were close he rolled aside and slashed his injured leg, sending a spray of acid their way.

A moment's stopping, they had reflexes like a human. He snatched the nearest weapon he saw and threw back the ex-owner at the others with his tail. They stepped aside and aimed again. There were two more who opened fire right when disappearing into the next hall. It cost him a fair bit of his tail.

The weapon he'd taken lay clumsy in his hands and Sarah could tell him no more than that he was to aim and pull the trigger. Whether he had the necessary hand coordination —

Oh, look, more enemies. Hguthreeit, where is the life core located in the bodies? There? Right. Avoiding them, he fired.

— wouldn't be much of a problem with his rapid neurological processing. Sarah sent him that he must look silly, such a huge drone with a tiny humanoid weapon. She was starting to enjoy the game too, now that he was ensuring nobody would die. Did fake humans feel pain? Sarah said it depended on the model, but right now he should keep focus and find Anudjan.

Halls, walls, some allies appeared from a sideway, having claimed that section. Excellent.

Oh, crap no.

Note for the future : do not aim weapons in general direction of allies even in the simple act of turning. It makes them run away. Apparently, being on the same side was not sufficient conviction of reduced hostility.

So why did Karga'te get away with some much taunting towards double eye wormy? Hguthreeit let him know he would be willing to five a lengthy explanation on the facts of that, let it suffice for now that it was game that he was winning. Just so he knew. Now proceed, please?

Odygos complied and picked up a few more weapons once the first ran out of munition. Some had bullets, others were lasers. The latter has no backdraft when fired and so were a little easier to use. He could hit things, though not as perfect as Sarah wanted. Still, he roughly got it done.

This almost got boring.

Ah, there was his target, Anudjan.

Odygos took out the last few Autons in his way and leaped, throwing the target fake human to the ground. He set his weight on him to keep him down, but Sarah told him to have him stand; he was dripping acid on him. So Odygos pulled him up and positioned him before the nearest passageway, from which he knew Sarah would soon emerge.

"Soon" was about a quarter of an hour, considering she had been waiting outside till everything was secure. It was the other allies that arrived first. They cautiously lined around the chamber he and his captive were in and started dragging away the injured fake humans, all the while staying as far from Odygos as possible. He wondered why, he wasn't aiming a weapon at them.

Fear, Sarah explained shortly before her arrival. It'd be the thing that made living beings register as prey more easily. She herself had it too, but for reasons that were not him. She feared failure, for some reason.

When Sarah finally stepped into the now clean room, she took a deep breath, pulled some strands of hair out of her face and faced Anudjan. "I am here on behalf of Noasyvé, who wishes to ally herself with the Auton. She offers her service in overthrowing the Enigma faction. Anudjan, please hear us out."

He only nodded, since Odygos had bled away the chunk of his neck where his vocal simulator was.

**· · · · · · ·**

Persephone tapped her fingertips against each other to simulate a contemplative human. Sarah suspected she was one of the models meant to deceive; that they had called her in to speak on behalf of the somewhat damaged Anudjan was not encouraging. Anudjan himself sat aside of her, opposite of Sarah. A quick patch had been made to ensure he would not 'bleed' too much anymore, and a wire came out of his neck attaching to Persephone. In lieu of the wireless transmission, which someone had sabotaged shortly before the take over, it was the best they could do.

Sarah had told them everything she knew, as elaborately as possible. Now she waited.

"How am I supposed to tell this to the others?" Persephone started. "In a war with another superforce, a sapient xenomorph queen lost because none of her soldiers had free will, so once her telepathy was disturbed they ceased to be organized, while the enemy remained so. So this queen sought the chimera DNA to speed up an experiment in creating a human filter for mind control, one that would serve her voluntarily. How she intends to circumcise the problems of her own mindless drones is not yet resolved, I presume?"

"No, it is not. But I can assure you that even with lessened control by her, the drones will be able to listen to reason. Have Eliath and Odygos done anything to—"

"They were being controlled by the chimera sisters. Let me finish, miss Driscoll. This queen gets betrayed in the middle of her experiment by a forcefully controlled puppet, who rebelled against the mindcontrol. Somehow Karga'te survived and adopted Kirindi, which she somehow decided to roll with. That is what I would tell them. What do you think will happen next?"

Sarah looked at Anudjan, but he didn't respond in any way. He just looked at her with calm gray eyes.

"Questions would come, miss Driscoll. It is too coincidental that Karga'te and Kirindi run off and just _happen to_ coincidentally cross out path in the vast emptiness of space, causing us to learn about Ti'chai-di, causing us to visit Enigma II, which just happens to be where your queen is. Once we send Kirindi there, she befriends the ex-friend of Jonah, who happens to be the bond master of Ti'chai-di. There are a lot of contrived coincidences there. Can you explain them in a way that doesn't reveal your mistress as a master manipulator?"

"Weren't you tailing the efforts of the rogue yautja already for those eggs? You being in the neighborhood to find those two wasn't that large a coincidence."

"True, but —" Anudjan had looked aside, it seemed to Sarah that Persephone had been going off track. Persephone sighed a little too humanlike, and continued, "Well then. Can you offer us any answers from your queen's point of view?"

"No, but I promise I will find out. Right now, Noasyvé is in an enforced sleep and has been unable to clearly communicate. The injuries she sustained in fighting her enemy have not healed and they hinder her. I trust she will explain everything once she is free."

"You trust her. We cannot. What is so special about the eggs that spawned the chimera sisters, where did they come from? Can you at least answer that?"

"I do not know that either. They are unique, but not that special. It's more that they have a rogue function, they're something that gives a short cut in manipulating a particular outcome. They are only useful to Noasyvé because she knows what to do with them," Sarah said, keeping her voice firm.

"Manipulating _?_ Sarah. Don't you think it's all like a game, and we're the pawns?" Persephone made a convincing expression of concern, almost seemed empathetic, but Sarah didn't want to let that influence her.

"Noasyvé is not reasoning like humans, or Auton. You cannot comprehend her right and wrong."

"I don't think I want to. Your have not given us a lot of answers. Now, we may be quick thinkers, but we are individuals. Give us some time to consult with each other and analyze for what decision to reach," Persephone said. It was not a request.

**· · · · · · ·**


	22. Settling Course

**· · · · · · ·**

May 15, 2578

**· · · · · · ·**

Karga'te had a little used apartment in one of the pillars. Well, apartment ... technically it was the head quarters of the city guards, but few really cared to be official about it. With a telepathic supervisor, there was no need for a physical meeting place. So, these headquarters had degenerated into a hangout place for who ever needed to have some rest and even  _that_  purpose was being neglected a lot, for some reason. Ti'chai-di was its most frequent resident now, since it was one of the few places in the city where she could sleep peacefully or have wounds treated.

The hunter arrived long before the others, grabbed some food and withdraw. Sarah, unable to take a cue, repeatedly tried to contact him with her inexperienced telepathy, but he was not in the mood for her. Instead, he sought out the "throne room" of the chimera sisters.

By honored hunter standards, the place was an affront. Messy, slimy, disorganized and what few skulls present were used as tables. There were channels carved in the floor to deal with the excess slime and grooves in the wall for Ti'chai-di's imperfect wax. He'd taken a lot of effort arranging it for the sisters, then told himself it was just so he could put them somewhere if he didn't feel like having them around. That never had happened.

Grumbling, he went to the bed — as far as the sticky hides could be called that — and dropped down face first and stayed that way until his breath ran out. This lasted twenty times longer than it should. Twenty times during which he was forced to think.

He could have left any time. Eight years and he hadn't even thought of it. Eight years without any desire to rampage against anyone, Kirindi least of all. Eight years alive when he could have been dead, and life with Kirindi admittedly was better than anything he'd lived before. No humiliation, total control over everything he did and friendly company, even if friendliness wasn't always what he wanted.

"Fuck it, Meidache was right about me being born bad blood." Karga'te didn't like to be left alone with his thoughts.

"~ But bad blood means a different thing for you, ~" said Kirindi gently. He turned over, just in time to see her peek in the door. She slipped in, closed it and hopped onto the bed, sitting cross legged aside of him. Karga'te sat up as well. She was here to talk, not for herself and she was probably was right that he did need it. Dammit.

He breathed out and said it.

"Why are you loyal to me? I didn't choose to be your father."

"I chose you cause I knew you'd like me."

"Did you know I'd betray you, back when you chose to save me?"

"I don't foresee," she said and tilted her head. "Cannot feel the future. It's doesn't exist yet. Can only expect on what I know now."

"Right."

"I don't understand what you feel now. Why do you want me to be angry with you?" She looked genuinely surprised. "Makes no sense, why? I don't feel you wanting chaos between us."

"I've done something very much like today before. Well, not exactly like today. I got away without a scratch, that's why I stayed stupid enough to repeat it."

"So?"

Karga'te growled in frustration. "I betrayed you, I should have to earn your trust back. At the very least you could lash out against me and rub it into my face what exactly I did wrong."

"Alright."

She climbed on his shoulders and leaned forward, looking into his face upside down. Lightly, she flicked a claw against his upper mandibles.

"Now I did."

He sighed.

"What do you really want? Saying some crap about loyalty and staying with me doesn't count. That's just your instinct."

She opened her mouth, but closed it again.

"Dammit, I'm trying to make up for what I did. Work along."

"But instinct is part of me. I want the hive together and happy. All of us."

"What about those Enigma people, who harmed your sister?"

"I want them to stop."

"Do you want revenge?"

"No. Just stopping."

" _I_  want revenge for a lot of things, can you feel it?"

"I can be angry and go after people, but once the anger is gone, I ... no."

"How about remorse? Regret?"

"I know you have them, but to me they don't mean anything," she said softly.

"Then I guess I am not enough hardmeat to be free of those things." Karga'te raised his arm and looked at the wound, which was already knitting back together. Kirindi looked along with him but far deeper, sending him an image of how his arm and then his whole body looked from the inside.

"But soon enough." She stepped off his shoulder and sat at his side. "What do I want ... no doubt. I don't like your doubt, it confuses. Is that like hate and regret, you can't stop doing it? I want that to be gone."

He shook his head and rattled thrice, but didn't give her a telepathic answer. "This is retarded. Can't even be simple about bloody emotional crap," he muttered.

"It's okay that you're bad at this," Kirindi said with a little laughter. "It's okay."

"It's not to me."

"If we ever meet your family again, they can join the new family and you'll use telepathy and you'll see everyone is bad at it."

"I suppose you're right. So now what?"

"Now I make new dolls," she said happily, "... and you could make new peace with Sarah."

Karga'te groaned. Luckily Kirindi didn't care to understand regret about having offered to do something for her.

**· · · · · · ·**

In the gloom of Enigma II she had never noticed. Her hair was still blond, but was no longer translucent. Instead the core was black with a layer of blond over it. Odygos looked along as she peered at a snapped strand. It became boring after a second, but Sarah kept lingering on it and playing with thoughts about something called transhumanism. Really, she already knew she was not human anymore. Why keep thinking about the same thing over and over?

How about exploring the city? She apologized, whatever that was supposed to mean, by letting him feel she was too tired. Ah, so she was thinking about it because it would be less boring than not thinking at all, when she could not move? How about a game then?

Sarah could not play the chaos games he sometimes entertained Ti'chai-di with. She didn't understand the rules and it made her head hurt. And there she apologized again.

Well, if improving Sarah's mental state was not optional, on to a secondary task : housekeeping. Sarah was lying down on this large leather thing called a bench, right under some trivial decoration, a tyrannosaur skull. How tacky. Other than that though, Odygos was content with the new location. The rough rock that made up the walls would be perfect for a nice, thick wax to keep up the humidity and warmth. There were windows that face the sun if it was low, which would help the warmth. He would begin building as soon as he had dealt with the smaller parts of housekeeping, namely the wardrobe. This room just happened to be where the yautja had dropped his armor.

Karga'te was part of the hive and should survive, so until Mother could complete his transformation and give him a true, thick hide he would need better protection than these pathetic metal sheet. It seemed silly to wear this type of armor, left his upper legs, upper arms and stomach exposed while covering his head where his echo location ought to be now.

He took off the soles of the boots, bled on some annoying parts that wouldn't part and weren't supposed to part until now. Then he carefully started secreting the special wax that would eventually harden to the resistance of metal, yet with a greater flexibility.

_WHAM_ , Karga'te's awareness barged in and metaphorically hollered,  _Here I am, pay attention!_ His body followed a moment later when he kicked the door open.

"What is that thing doing with my armor?" he snarled.

"He is improving it for you," Sarah said a little sharper than necessary, pushing up from her bench. "It's not his fault he does not understand the concept of property."

"I did not ask for that! Raise it better."

"There is nothing to raise! He isn't my pet, he is  _a member of our hive_!"

Odygos continued working undisturbed, it as apparent to him that Karga'te was fully aware of the purpose and use of the armor improvements, he just liked being nitpicky. A little like Eliath. Karga'te was was deliberately using the word 'thing' because he knew it would vex Sarah. That was not tactful. However, Sarah's unrestrained telepathic afterthrow was not tactful either, even if it was involuntary.

_You are the one who should know your place, you idiot. I'm the messenger and you're the ward._  How annoying it must be for the complex minds, to have so much opinions to accidentally leak.

"Today, I nearly killed Kirindi. This is the worst time you could be pissing me off."

Odygos made a mental note to discover what the best time was, then told Sarah Karga'te had realized her opinion. An  _Oh crap_  moment followed, but for some reason she did not think this was suitable for apologizing. Another mental note he made, find out this mysterious rhythm to apologizing.

"Oh, so you do feel bad about it? Well, you were merely subject to a variant of reaction formation and you've overcome it. You should be proud of that, at least, I know people who haven't been able to handle hive rejection properly."

"Reaction formation? Call it what you want. I have my reasons for mistrusting living weapons."

"You're one of those yourself now," Sarah said too monotonously. She crossed her arms and looked out of the window, uneasy with Karga'te's demanding telepathic attention.

Odygos was amused how quickly the theme had stopping being about what he was doing with Karga'te's armor. This was a good time to invent laughter. His throat didn't work for that, but he was certain he could simulate it.

"Oh, I get it. You're spiteful because your best friend Jonah didn't and that bastard alien did," Karga'te said with a cynical chuckle. "That's why you're so noxious. Is there a name fancy name for that too, I wonder?"

Sarah didn't erupt with rage, but she did sink into a particularly bitter state of mind and contemplated to on how to give him a good lecture about his own attitude. Odygos reminded her to be patient. For now, the yautja was only on his own side, so would the chimera sisters be, and they needed him to be accepting of the fact he was part of the hive.

Sarah held up her hands in a gesture that somehow was supposed to be peaceful. Weird. "Please, I'm not trying to start a fight." Odygos liked that she took his advice. Alright, let's try laughter.

"Karga'te, listen. We are at the doorstep of a unique event. Noasyvé will replace the Queen Mother and restore order to the galaxy. But first, we need to conquer that one enemy. Enigma II's Utara likely is a surviving segment of an intelligent computer virus, the one that once wiped the colonies and caused humans to forget about the xenomorph and the invasion to earth. Utara is trying to grow a new body and needs Ti'chai-di to be the womb. If she escapes — Odygos, are you laughing? This is not funny."

Success! Mental note : these seems to be good and bad times for laughing too. Sarah didn't catch on that his reason for laughing was something else, or maybe he had laughed the wrong way.

"Did I just hear a hiccuping xenomorph?" Jake said as he stepped into the room.

"How the heck does an entire species forget about something like the kainde amedha anyway?" Karga'te muttered.

"The Big Deletion occurred some centuries ago, collapsing most of mankind's colonies. No more evidence. Yet from the scraps of civilization, humans reemerged and become powerful again. That's why this market is freaking out. Humans just  _won't die out_ ," Jake said. "So, about the hiccuping, Odygos said five seconds ago it was supposed to be laughter but —"

"Can we get back on topic, please?" Sarah said.

"Yes, the topic, that was about how dumb I was, right? You must be an expert on stupidity, Sarah," Karga'te said.

"Hear who's talking. You, a yautja, lived here  _eight_   _years_ in a human-made atmosphere. It never crossed your mind that  _hey, maybe I should have choked to death some time between then and now_? Yes, I do think I am a little bit entitled to be the educator here."

"For your information, I've seen freakier things come to pass than me adapting to this atmosphere. Hell, my wounds healing as quickly as they did is exactly like those freaky things."

"You are not of the Ash Generation, if that's what you mean." At least not to her knowledge, Odygos reminded her.

"I was talking about someone with Cursed Eyes developing sight, fire burning on nothing but air and hundred armed goddesses rampaging through temples."

Sarah had nothing on that. Cursed Eyes might just be some illness, fire already used oxygen but generally needed a source, but goddesses? Ooh, stumped humans were tickly. Odygos wasn't allowed to tell her anything — Mother said something about respect for personal memories being necessary to get voluntary drones — so he just opted to say that he wasn't lying. Sarah insisted that if that was true, he must be misinterpreting something radically. Figuring out what that was might take a while.

"Speaking of the supernatural, I want to know why I am here. Your queen must have hinted you  _something_."

"Could you be clearer?"

"Let's just say they are certain events in the past that make it insanely coincidental and ironic that I find myself in this position."

"Well, you were elected from a limited number of rogue entities. I suppose there might be some spite involved to the Matriarch of the Hunters, considering —"

"The Matriarch of the Hunters? We don't have a single ruler. The male hunters fall under the matriarchy on the home planet, which consists of thousands of factions."

"Oh, they  _do_ have a single Matriarch. She's something like Syvé, she has extended awareness, a court and certain powers. She is technically weaker than our Mother, but all her people have individuality. Her court can continue acting on a plan even if their matriarch is hindered. Syvé's hive on the other hand is weak when she herself is weak, that's why she needs us independent members. That's roughly all I know, I'm sure Syvé will expand once she is completely free. Now my turn. What dramatic irony?"

"None of your business."

"Now I think of it, why did you run off with the egg, instead of handing it over to your leader?"

"I  _did_ hand it over. I just took it back when the bargain turned out to be a hoax. Anyway, that Matriarch I am guessing is Paya, does that make Syvé the Black Warrior?"

"I suppose you could see it that way, but I wouldn't try to seek too much parallels between the gods and reality."

"I need to think. Don't bother me." Karga'te spun around, pushed past Jake and vanished.

Sarah almost said he had had so much time to think already and this was no place to end a conversation, but Jake broadly waved his arms in an off-cutting motion. She swallowed her words and kept her thoughts quiet.

The rest of the evening, Odygos spent by having chaotic mental games with Shadhahvar and Ti'chai-di in tandem. He experienced a headache for the first time ever and so Sarah could explains a little bit better about apologies for declining games. Odygos decided that sapience was the best game ever.

**· · · · · · ·**

Karga'te had little experience with putting up mental walls. After having realized Kirindi and later Ti'chai-di would never mock him or think of something as humiliating, he hadn't bothered to learn. His sole edge over Sarah, who had spent months engaging in highly aware communication just to pick up on the slightest bit of awareness of her queen, was that telepathy was casual to him. He realized very quickly that Sarah was a little too specialized in focus to be able to process the overall telepathic landscapes. All he had to do was make a lot of mental noise whenever she focused on him and she never noticed there were secret thoughts flying around. That kept her busy till she finally fell asleep.

As this happened, both the physical and mental space become quieter than he had experienced in a long time. Even Shadhahvar was unusually peaceful. Strange, he had expected it to be busier, even with Sarah asleep. Instead, it just appeared  _wider_.

Sarah cuddled up in a stack of furs, Odygos curled around her. A quick mental brush told him she was having visions with her queen, but he had no interest in meeting that one yet.

Kirindi had claimed Eliath in a similar way, back in her own room. Her mind too was having visions as Sarah did, though Eliath was sharply aware of the here and now. Nice guard dog, Karga'te poked.

Where was the big sister?

Ti'chai-di no longer needed to be Kirindi's comfort pillow and she could not truly sleep. She loved Kirindi, but did not love sitting still for long times, so she gladly left that to Eliath.

Karga'te found her in the bath, which meant the floor was flooded. Sitting down at the edge of the bath, he quietly addressed her. With Jake and Sarah he could simply speak English or his own language, they'd get the gist telepathically without much of his effort, but to have any sort of complex conversation with Ti'chai-di, he needed to put in a lot of effort.

This hardmeat queen, Syvé would have galaxy wide psychic control, however the heck that worked. He didn't doubt she could do things Sarah's limited rationality could not imagine. If we worked for this creature, she might do him favors in return. He needed just one concerning something he had abandoned years ago. But if this was true ...

Nra'tex-ne wouldn't be happy with his methods, if he indeed was still alive. Karga'te didn't care. Nra'tex-ne could go his own way after this was all over. The past where brother and brother hunted together he had already put behind him, but at the very least he wanted his him to be safe. As difficult as it was to face, that sentiment counted for his inlaws too.

"~ What do you think, Ti'chai-di? ~"

Thinking was not something she often paused to do. After a long time of wondering, she told Karga'te that if the Mother could alter even Karga'te, then perhaps she could alter her too so that her children would no longer die. To Karga'te story, she had not particular to say, or so it appeared at first. The images she showed him of her dying offspring  _were_  a response to something similar he recalled. Malformed hybrid fetuses, carelessly dropped on the ground and the mercy of death to them. Two had survived. It had something in common, however distantly.

"~ I swore to protect those children and I threw that oath away. I guess today I did it again. ~"

She met his memories as if they were her own children, even if she could not grasp the more complex things surrounding it. All she knew was lost children and the need to keep family together. That she had perfect sympathy for.

Curious all of the sudden, Karga'te asked her, "Could  _you_ forgive me? For what I have done?"

Yes, she said, but she could take it back any time. It didn't matter that she didn't fully understand, this was good enough. He grinned in his yautja way, mandibles clattering. Perhaps the sister's lack of wrath was a nice counterbalance to Tex's most likely reaction upon learning certain things.

**· · · · · · ·**

"I want payment," Karga'te said the next morning.

Sarah looked up from her breakfast, baffled. "But ... how can you ask payment for ..."

_For being inside a loving and unique family and getting superpowers, you selfish jerk._

Karga'te let a deep rumble escape his throat. "I'm sure being loud and open with your thoughts was handy on Enigma, but here you should learn to be discrete."

Far away, a certain alien worm found this hilarious, which he made sure was noticed. Jake and Shadhahvar, one on each end of the table, could not help but burst into laughter when

"I won't serve her out of a sense of honor or some misplaced idea of family loyalty. I live, but she brought me in danger in the first place. It was her hive that I was dying in, wasn't it? I owe her nothing, especially not Kirindi or Ti'chai-di."

"Fine. What kind of payment?"

"Kirindi, you want to serve her," Karga'te said. "Tell Sarah why."

She tilted her head and smiled. "Cause I like this hive and I think it will be a happy one."

"All I will tell you is that what I want is something similar to that and it is nothing that would harm Syvé's plans. And no, I am not giving you or anyone in this room any details. What I said I should be enough."

"You said very little, fine, if what you claim is true, then Syvé will likely indulge you. She is capable of certain kindness even when it does not directly serve her plans."

Karga'te and Kirindi exchanged a glance, then the yautja walked off.

"Thank you," Kirindi then said.

Anudjan called later that morning, asking for another meeting. Karga'te caught Shadhahvar at a computer, failing miserably at hiding how much fun she had with answering.

"Yeah, Sarah and Karga'te are doing a speed course in being annoying siblings. Yesterday, they've been through flailing toddlers making a fuss over stolen toys and they're now reaching the end of screeching preteens. Witnessing the teenage  _you just don't understand me_ phase here. I'd say they're going to need to at least reach their thirties or forties before being they'll remember you people exist."

"Tell them that I'm now working for the goddess of death and they can arrange for Sarah to go back to her little underworld."

Shadhahvar turned around sheepishly. "I wasn't trying to make you sound bad, really."

Karga'te rolled his eyes. "Sure." He was about to walk off when he noticed something off. Shadhahvar still was not quite that chaos anymore.

The moment he telepathically reached out, curious, she said, "Jake wants to go home."

He couldn't see her face as it was hidden by her hair, she looked down at the touchboard. For what little he ventured into her mind, nothing complex he found and only a very simple sadness. Karga'te had not been paying attention to Jake, but Shadhahvar had known him for years. For all her stupidity,  _she_  apparently  _had_  noticed something.

"I don't know much about the human world," Karga'te said. "If he wants to live as a hunted outcast, maybe that suits him. But if the creature we're working for has the powers I suspect she has, she could help him at least in some way to find a save place to live. Maybe bring home there."

"Huh? I don't get it."

"I'm saying that if you two can make yourselves useful to our little death goddess, give it a try."

Now looking up, she smiled. "Oh, you'd like us to stay. I thought you didn't."

Karga'te shrugged and walked off again, but mentally and physically.

**· · · · · · ·**

Twenty two hours later and another talk with Sarah, the Auton had reached a decision. They would be ready, should Syvé call for help.

Sarah returned to her spacecraft with a well plotted story about mutant dinosaurs, chaos theory and a few complimentary injuries to accentuate the  _roaming the wilderness cyborg-deprived to get back to my ship_ part.

Y-921 was to escort Sarah there. While his memory was gone, he was assigned to the subject of handling xenomorph-auton interactions due to his personality. He had judged right (it seemed) once, perhaps it would help.

Who were not to escort her were Kirindi and Odygos, but they went along nevertheless, at least as far as it was safe. They had a last meeting in the shadow of a rock formation, far out of sight of the ship's area scanners and Kirindi being Kirindi, hugs were involved. Sarah wasn't used to extensive affection, but it was difficult letting go today.

Once free, she said to Kirindi, "Hold on to this for me, will you?" In her hands she laid an old toothbrush.

Kirindi nodded and said, "Off course. I'll give it back to you soon."

Odygos being Odygos, he didn't understand what her hesitation to go to work about about. He understood missing, he had missed her and would do so again, but that was because it was his task to protect her. Her task did not involve him, did it?

Sarah laid a hand on Odygos' forehead and hunched down before him.

"It's got a lot to do fears," Sarah said. "... but you wouldn't know them."

He did not understand the need for a word of farewell, since he had never truly needed words, but he said goodbye anyway.

**· · · · · · ·**


	23. Squishy Heads

**· · · · · · ·**

The Galactic Coalition was a paper thin network upheld by the Gray and the Abyssal, two advanced alien nations that had found common ground in their love of knowledge. One could also call them the Cosmic Denominators, or the Galactic Council, or a variety of chemical compounds that were really difficult to translate into any auditory language, let alone Eternal English that lacked clicks, howls or even so much as real volume. They might just as well be called the Very Important Squishy Heads, according to Odygos.

Eliath thought this was silly. Virtually every species was squishy to him and they all had varying degrees of importance based on that — namely, how likely were they to threaten the hive?

Since Sarah's departure, Eliath had been slowly introduced to the squishy city and all its squishy complexities. Hguthreeit had casually announced to the city that the guard now actual real xenomorph and that anyone who had a problem should suck it up, lest their squishy selves be assaulted with invisible things like laws and Kirindi's disappointment.

Eliath didn't understand half of that and hated that he had to.

In the wilderness he could just kill anything squishy that so much as looked the wrong way to the sisters. Over time, the dinosaurs learned to stay away. In here, the squishy would  _not_  stay away when he killed one of them. They'd come back later with weapons and a plan, going either after him or worse, the sisters. In here, creatures came to each others aid even when not member of the same hive, or any hive at all. Absurd but true. He could handle a mob, but there were consequences.

Anything he ruined required a payment, for example. If he could not provide it, they would turn to Kirindi and make her provide it. His instincts had nothing to say about that, other than the command that he was to keep Kirindi alive and in the best possible condition. The alive part he had covered. The condition part ... did that mean he had to help her avoid unpleasant situations?

It didn't make her feel well when she was apologizing and working to repay.

On one claw, maybe it would be the best condition if she learned not to care for things not part of the hive.

On another, they needed to survive for the sake of their Mother and for that, they had to understand this world and paying heed to the squishy ones was part of that.

Metaphors were easier for him and one that Eliath had picked up from Jake was "you're in way over your head", which he had used on Shadhahvar failing to operate a so called microwave. Odygos had somehow understood that very same thing.

Stupid Odygos and his curiosity had a purpose after all.

There were a mass of other things Eliath was not allowed to do for reasons he didn't grasp.

He was not allowed to gather hosts in preparation for Mother's arrival.

He was not allowed to enter certain holes in the wall that fit the description of building, unless given explicit permission or having a good reason, like suspicious activity.

He was not allowed to give personal interpretations of suspicious activity.

He was not allowed to violently make anything organized move out of the way.

He was not allowed to interpret that command to only apply to direct contact with squishy creatures.

He was not allowed to lose blood on anything prone to melting, which was nearly everything.

At least to  _that_ , there were exceptions. Acid was an acceptable way to cease further violence and open locks, which he needed right now.

Eliath was sent here to investigate something being transported without permission. One of Hguthreeit's subordinates had determined this through some convoluted calculation and Eliath was to smell it out. He'd been given a sample at Hguthreeit's base, it was some sort of resin.

Find it, retrieve bit for evidence, call in reinforcements. Got it.

The cave he had melted himself a way into was dark, dry and muted. The entire place was stacked with crates of all sizes, full of subtle scents. Systematically, he crossed the place to find that one among hundreds.

He sensed Odygos enter, but didn't pay him much heed. In fact, he actively tried to ignore him. His stupid brother was way too interested in trivial details like the content of the crates even if they did not include the target material. He was not worth paying attention to.

At least, not until one of the crates came hurling down. Eliath barely managed to jump aside before the crate and its content shattered on the floor.

Atop the stack sat Odygos, hissing contently. Silently, he asked Eliath whether he felt annoyed.

Oh so yes.

Yes because this was pointless behavior, because it made things difficult, because it wasted time and most of all because somehow, Eliath hadn't seen it coming.

Odygos gleefully told him he couldn't notice his specific intentions telepathically because his mind was just too crude. To cement that, Odygos' tail launched a piece of rock. Eliath already stood against a wall of crates and was frankly too irritated to climb up. He lashed the rock away with his tail and shrieked.

Odygos turned tail and ran, not afraid in the least, just careful.

His brother was vexing, aimless, Eliath decided. So why did  _he_  get along better with this situation?

Worse yet, Karga'te agreed with Eliath on that opinion. Being on the same line of thought as that worthless-should-be-kicked-out-and-killed was now classified : annoying.

He was left with the broken material. Odygos was gone. Eliath would likely be blamed for this. Kirindi would be made to clean it up.

That would be annoying to her and not well.

Eliath hesitated, still lingering with his thought about whether she should learn to ignore it. Could she even do that? He was not built for this type of thought. Odygos was not either, but he was  _flawed_ , it was a side effect. His Mother wanted free thinking servants  _exactly because_  her own children couldn't think like that, not without risk to her. In the perfect world, there would be only the hive, no pointless complications like compliance to anyone else's plans and no free thinking drones.

Yet he was also told to keep Kirindi well.

Eliath got up, collected the pieces of scattered crate and rock and spent half an hour carefully gluing them together with a resin of his own making.

Then he continued searching for that other resin, succeeded and reported.

Hguthreeit sent in his own servants, who turned the place upside down, smashed a lot more crates and statues and gave Eliath his first feeling of futility.

Far away, Odygos mocked him.

_Fine._

He sought out his brother, asking for explanation. Odygos took this as a cue to join him all the way, which he did by running up while Eliath crossed a roof's edge and bumping him.

Eliath instinctively latched onto the rock with three clawed limbs, avoiding a fall. Odygos found the fourth set of claws around the lower end of his head, the circle talor partially driven into joint of his jaws.

Would physical corrections work, if mental ones were useless against Odygos' defective behavior?

Odygos froze, but only briefly. As he shook off Eliath, he snickered and was satisfied with Eliath grasping the concept of threat before actually resorting to action. Likewise, it was great Eliath was now understanding that brand of frustration born from being put in place. Supersonically cheering for mental advance, he darted out of reach.

Eliath thought Odygos should be feeling that like he was put in place, but couldn't avoid that he was hopelessly behind on everything and Odygos had just pointed out he was already starting to adapt into the world of the squishy.

Odygos didn't leave much time for contemplation and launched in a tale of addictive poison and money and things other than truth, as well as how this related to not needing to worry about wrecked property in the illegal resin case and other vague concepts. The reason behind it all stayed vague.

There  _had_  to be reason.

Kirindi was occupied elsewhere with her sister, but now he felt her call ease in and offer to explain.

That was an odd concept, especially since she offered with a sense of keeping  _him_ out of trouble. That was  _his_  job towards  _her._

Odygos suggested they all get together now. Eliath thought it pointless, they could communicate from a distance. Kirindi though agreed with Odygos, there would be less distractions at home and a chance to use the computer. She apparently found it difficult to relay specific images to Eliath and she needed them to explain the city.

He took off.

Odygos gathered up some items had had placed at the other edge of the roof, and caught up bipedal. The items were almost certainly not natural material. When Eliath wondered how this was in line with the order to not claim anything from the city, Odygos said he had been offered the material in a social ritual deemed apology. It was a legit trade : in exchange, he would not wreck the trespasser's rampaging beast anymore. Trading was totally allowed.

Once they ran out of flat roofs, the brothers cantered down the streets. Eliath tried to fight against the distracting glee Odygos got from seeing everything fearfully move aside. Whether anyone feared him was irrelevant to him as long as they didn't get in his way, he didn't want to care through Odygos.

At this point, Odygos launched one of his most bizarre thoughts at Eliath.

Here they were, walking down a street and the creatures around them were wrong to be afraid of them. Wasn't that just cheap and pathetic? Not for the creatures, for them as Mother's children. They were the strongest species in the universe and children of the greatest Mother, yet here they were, subject to the rules of these Not So Important Squishy Heads. Odygos was fully aware of how wrong this was, yet he was fascinated.

Eliath had no concept of cheapness or disgust, but Odygos did and that seeped over into Eliath. He found it a fitting concept for what they currently were : children of the oldest Mother of the galaxy, yet not conquering or building a new domain. For Odygos, this opinion was not strong enough to compete with  _his fun_ , but Eliath found it increasingly obnoxious and unpleasant. Especially now Odygos pointed it out.

Somehow, this all would help the restoration of his Mother to power. They needed the cooperation of the city, so it all had purpose. He didn't need to care for how this situation might appear to either himself or outsiders. All that mattered was the call of his Mother.

Nevertheless, it would be great if Odygos would just stop bugging him about squishy trivialities.

Karga'te and Kirindi could shut off their deepest mind from others. Kirindi had done it for months to keep Karga'te from finding out about her hive, but she said it had only worked because Karga'te never dug around in her mind anyway.

Eliath wanted to be able to do this too; Odygos and his constant experiments with mental diversity should not get in the way of his duty. Individuality was not for the drones and warriors, but today, it might be hist best defense against further mental decay.

Kirindi told him Odygos wasn't so wrong with his explorations, but also agreed Eliath should stay himself ... odd, he hadn't thought of this as a matter of staying himself ... just a matter of distractions.

She offered to teach him how to seal off. The start was made easily by her, he had no idea how, but Odygos was suddenly more ... distant.

She struggled for a moment to find the right mental wall for Eliath, then she asked him what he thought about this place and his role. He alone, not Odygos, not what he believed Mother would say.

Simple.

This place was pointless. It could only serve as a tool for Mother to wake and grow strong. They needed the androids for that. Their duty was simple as that, protect the hive as far as necessary, the rest just did not matter. Maybe as hosts.

Behind the wall, Odygos wondered what would happen to all the squishy stuff here. He didn't like the idea of them all dying out and being replaced by anything remotely like his brother. Plus, wasn't the wormy thing awesome? Sure, weak in the flesh, but its psychic grip on this city was remarkable : so much different things, yet so much control. Wouldn't that be fun to keep around?

They're not worthy paying attention to, Eliath returned calmly.

Odygos silently laughed at him. If they were not worth understanding, then why did Mother need creatures like Kirindi and Karga'te? They could do things Mother's children could not. Hive members who could be individuals and queens over all sorts of creatures, without becoming mothers and threatening Mother. Shouldn't they use that to rule?

Eliath didn't care. Anything within the wall had no instincts for this.

At this point they physically reached the edge of the active market and came closer to the pillars, where private estates were located. The majority of these had belonged to rich business folk to stay in, so many of them were empty for years. Those that weren't were evacuating right now. The district was silent save for such bursts of evacuation activity.

Their encounter with these panicked departures were their first encounter with fear  _not_  directed at them. The fear they had for humans was a different one from which they held for the xenomorph.

Eliath didn't care definitions and went on, but Odygos stayed a little while to observe the creatures from a distance. At one point, he even approached them and decided to help them clean out their hive.

Stupid. They obviously didn't want the help, but off course that only served to entertain Odygos. Let's play empty the hive chambers as quickly as possible, then watch the hive members try to make sense of the mess that the content had turned into.

Karga'te had returned yet when Eliath arrived in their new hive chambers. Eliath ignored him and his tell tale irritation, but found it difficult. He was designated as a dominant mind in the hive, after all. That, and the sight of Karga'te peeling his helmet off the wall; Odygos had crafted the thing onto a statue like carving with resin and acid.

Karga'te wasn't sure of Odygos' administrations on his armor, especially since Odygos insisted he not use a helmet. Mother's kind relied on an exoskeleton for stability, while yautja had an endoskeleton. Only the head was the exception for the yautja, consisting of hard shell with only mush within. Therefore, he could at least leave that uncovered and let the echo senses develop there. Eliath momentarily paused to affirm the logic of this, then passed on.

In their room, Kirindi and Ti'chai had gathered around a holographic projection. Holographic images were difficult to perceive to Eliath, since he didn't have any eyes. He could make out shapes and colors to a degree, using sensors on the front of his head, but interpreting those was nigh impossible if there was no echo resonance or magnetic field.

For this reason, Kirindi was copying shapes of the hologram with the use of bendable metal rods and piece of cloth. Using these, she went on to explain about a hierarchy that involved abstract powers like money and social standing and property and more. Something as simple as knowing who was in charge of what could mean the difference between victory and loss. Knowing who the leader of the Auton was had helped, right? There would be many more situations like this in the future.

What she taught him felt pointless and abstract and irritated him. Not only that, it felt contrary to his nature itself. All decisions belonged to Mother, yet here he was, learning to juggle information so he could make them on his own.

Not right. Right.

The only thing that made sense was that Kirindi was here and he was keeping her in a well state, like Mother told him to, for the sake of the hive. Everything else didn't.

**· · · · · · ·**

After a lot of arguing with himself, Karga'te had decided to try on the adjusted armor. The thing fit perfectly, weighed only a little more and ... he hated to admit, but there was nothing he could say to the detriment of the work, save for how freaky it looked. Odygos had even colored separate parts differently, for as far as his xenoresin allowed.

How that drone managed to understand yautja and armory are so bloody well was a mystery when at the same time, he'd accept a bribe without even realizing it.

Odygos entered some time after Eliath and was confronted with Karga'te leaning against the nearest wall. Odygos still carried the fruit and got a sudden psychic wave of  _wrong_  from Karga'te.

"~ That was not a legit trade, that was a bribe. You're not supposed to get anything in return for stopping what worm guy tells you. You're being paid by not being killed, got that? Don't ever do that again. ~"

Odygos got it. Right. He hadn't played by the rules.

Deciding to take it into stride, he sat down and and started ramming his tail on the floor. Karga'te would have ignored it earlier, but now he reached out telepathically and tried making his confusion apparent. Odygos showed him an image, colored, that he had taken out of Shadhahvar's head.

"~ Second, stop mindreading Shadhahvar. She's a bad source of information. You are not a dog. ~"

Odygos countered that the concept of dog hardly had anything to do with species, according to those movies Shadhahvar had seen.

"~ That's just her stupidity interpreting things and that's exactly why you should quit using her as source. ~"

Odygos took note and promptly decided to tag his entire list of sources according to credibility while figuring out credibility it itself, simultaneously launching into an exploration of the axis of truth, lie and anything in between. Karga'te tuned out quickly.

The moment he was no longer directly linked to the drone, Odygos turned around and entered the main room, where Kirindi and Ti'chai-di had moved to build some weird structure. Eliath was still in their room, trying to make sense of some abstract stuff. Whatever went on in Eliath's head there was like being burned, so Karga'te tried not paying attention.

Odygos inspected the structure for a moment, then handed his bribe to Kirindi. After all, it wasn't anything he needed to eat himself.

Kirindi eagerly accepted, shoved one piece into her mouth and confirmed with bloated cheek it wasn't anything harmful. Then she helped her sister eat, who had trouble handing small objects with her bony hands.

Right then, Eliath's awareness blared through the hivemind with something that Karga'te could only describe as a bizarre mixture of off-envy, confusion and territorial aggression aimed at Odygos.

It was Eliath's job to attend to Kirindi, not Odygos, and Eliath could not place Odygos' action in his limited understanding of the world beyond _leave my job to me_.

It was childish, it was feral and it happened so quickly neither of the drones was prepared. Eliath burst into the room and shoved Odygos into the nearby elevator. Since said elevator was currently not up and in fact closed with doors that were not acid proof, the collision was loud, bloody and resulting in a huge drop for Odygos, with more acid upon arrival at the bottom.

Kirindi shrieked, Eliath startled as if waking from a daze, a far away Sarah launched an assault on Karga'te to stop lazying off and take control. He felt Sarah reach Eliath too, but couldn't feel clearly what it was, only that it was not pleasant and elicited a low hiss from the warrior. There was an enforcing echo to Sarah's presence that lingered even when her voice faded; Karga'te guessed the one named Lemura was in league.

Eliath still stood before the elevator door, increasingly puzzled with himself. Suddenly he turned and cantered out of the room. Reluctantly, Karga'te dug into the warrior drone's mind. He was met with the tell tale hostility against him, but also with a lot more.

It was like someone had taken the basic building blocks of a sapient mind, carelessly tossed them in a bag and now that bag had been opened and shaken onto a floor. There was no map on how to put the pieces together.

"~ What just happened? ~" he sent to the far away presence of Sarah and her side of the hivemind.

It took a while before a clear answer came.

Odygos wasn't the only drone who was being affected by the strange birth circumstances. Sarah theorized that due to Syvé's nature, her children were inherently different and needed psychic and genetic guidance during their early days, yet Syvé was unable to give this to them now.

That was why she had never tried escaping Enigma II by letting any of her offspring gestate. Without proper guidance, the same things that made her children stronger than ordinary xenomorph turned them too chaotic when left unsupervised. How this unfolded tended to depend on the host and the circumstances around birth. Odygos and his relatively harmless curiosity was an exception to the norm.

Whatever the case, the Auton better not find out about this. They'd draw the wrong conclusions.

Eliath was moving to the bottom of the elevator, feeling neither regret nor satisfaction at his own actions. He was just going on instinct in retrieving a member of his hive who was needed to defend the rest of the hive.

Every time one part of his mind fired off all that did not make sense about him throwing around his hive member, it bounced off of agitation and knowledge of Odygos not acting like he should. Intersecting this all were gaps where his mother's call should ring, a murderous instinct silenced by one of the few orders she had left him with and a growing individuality that whispered him things different from both his instincts and his Mother. Whenever those whispers didn't meet direct resistance, he would follow them.

Sarah again told Karga'te to take up dominance. They needed guidance, however flawed it would be.

How was he supposed to do that?

Improvise, Sarah replied.

"~ Odygos, Eliath, throwing is not to be included in the same action as interaction with your brother. You don't throw other people's property at each other and you don't throw each other at other people's property. Oh, and just for your information, if it's part of this planet, it's not your property. ~"

Ti'chai-di let it slip by accident that Karga'te had once thrown Hguthreeit out of a window.

"That was different, he wouldn't have left a big acid splatter that could kill bystanders."

Odygos agreed with a pained, wordless afterfeeling.  _Playing by rules good_.

Eliath did not deny the order, but did not affirm it either. At best, his response could be translated as  _sure, for now_.

Peering down the elevator shaft, Karga'te caught glimpses of a bleeding Odygos stumbling away and people running away screaming.

The longer Karga'te focused on the drones, the more disturbed he was by them. Brothers, yet no care for pain or suffering of their sibling. Odygos at least felt somewhat betrayed by Eliath, but Eliath himself was just blank on this terrain.

He looked at the sisters, who had stopped building. Kirindi had stood up and came to stand at his side. The only reason she hadn't followed to help Odygos was that she couldn't do much without her sister, who would have significantly more trouble going down.

"~ Kirindi, you need to figure out what exactly he thinks protecting you means and .. do something about this. ~" Karga'te waved a hand vague at the wrecked elevator.

She was a tittle hesitant. Not out of fear for Eliath, but for the chaos she'd find inside. Part of that chaos involved a death wish to many things she didn't want to see die or be destroyed.

"~ Alright, ~" she nevertheless told her father.

"~ For all his talk on me not belonging in this hive, he's bloody screwed up himself. ~"

"~ Kainde Amedha weren't meant for anything but survival and the hive, especially not for ... for ... ~" She struggled for the word, but the closest yautja equivalent was too different from the human one. Karga'te had never objected to her learning language and knowledge from the Auton, but he hadn't cared to himself. "~ Personhood, ~" she decided on.

In response, Karga'te showed her a little of a long ago memory. Someone had already explained that concept to him. She was right.

"~ You should teach him about that too. ~"

"~ I may? I would, but I thought you did not want him to become smart. ~"

"~ The smarter he gets, the better he'll be at killing me. He might just figure out there are indirect ways. Still, at least with logic, he'd be predictable. ~"

"~ Eliath would kill everything for the sake of the hive, you only a little more eagerly. If he learns more, perhaps he will see you as less of a threat. ~"

Karga'te scoffed, but nevertheless gave her a soft push forward. "~ Just go already. ~"

Smiling, she nodded and ran off. Ti'chai-di, still the same as always, slowly stood up to follow.

Karga'te sank on the nearest chair.

Who would have thought that thinking intensely for a few minutes could be more exhausting than fighting a few hours straight?

Sarah's mind reached out again, somewhat comforting, as she explained that for humans, the brain used up about twenty percent of daily energy despite only weighing less than two percent of the body mass. Similar as yautja were to humans — on the scale between human and xenomorph at least — he could expect a similar percentage to be true. She told him not to worry though, once Syvé was awake and their transfigurations would be complete under her guidance, it would all become easier.

Transfiguration. Pfffft.

Then again, it would too late too turn back. Had been too late for many years now.

Throwing up a wall against Sarah and anyone else, he wondered what his brother would think of this all.

He shrugged it off quickly. Nra'tex-ne was just going to have to tolerate it. It wasn't like he ever had imagined they'd go back on the same Path anyway. Nra'tex-ne would return to being an honorable hunter because that was who he always had been, while Karga'te would stay with Kirindi, Ti'chai-di and freedom. Even if that meant being part of a Kainde Amedha hive. Well, as long as he wasn't brainwashed.

He couldn't tell whether his emotions were being manipulated to feel safe. It might very well be, since he found himself remarkably at ease about being Kainde Amedha himself.

Kirindi flat out told him that yes, she was offering him a sense of calmness and he was accepting it openly. Was it wrong?

He decided that in this case, it wasn't. In fact, he could think a lot clearer than when he was angry. How long had it been ago that he really had thought about his brother as anything more than a painful, fleeting quest?

Feeling at ease didn't drive away doubts entirely. Him deciding this was alright could also be an effect of the hive's influence.

Again Kirindi affirmed. It was a combination of telepathic soothing and his growing understanding of the hive mind. There was a limit to the influence though. It could only altered the energetic side of the brain, the physical side was still there. That was after all why something like hive rejection couldn't easily be countered.

Good enough, Karga'te decided as he laid back with his arms behind his head. As he stared up at the ceiling, which was taking a distinctly hivelike appearance, he realized he hadn't even felt any need to use sounds for communication.

**· · · · · · ·**


	24. Unfortunate Reflections

**· · · · · · ·**

_May 23, 2578_

_Location : Enigma II_

**· · · · · · ·**

"No, it's called ace," Jay said, holding up the card.

"Jayce," Lemura mumbled. She remembered to smile this time, but it appeared as a toothy.

"Whatever," he said through gritted teeth. Sarah considered not telling Lemura he was uncomfortable, but that wouldn't be honest.

Lemura's face and mind fell the moment she learned, she didn't know how to do better. Sarah promised she'd get the hang of expression, and Jay would get used to it anyway.

Where Sarah only got glimmers of information with others, the exchange between her and Lemura was much clearer and went both directions. In a way she had to give up privacy, but that was a compromise she was willing to make. Unlike Utara, Lemura wouldn't be prying information from her mind for malicious purposes.

Right now, Lemura and Jay had the opposite problem. Jay had a lot of catching up to do and Lemura needed to learn to engage with minds not Sarah and not while dreaming. So, she gave them a little incentive to pick up things in the form of a game. Bison played a hand too, with Sarah sitting by thinking very openly about his cards to see whether the others would pick anything up.

If not for this, none of them would even be playing cards, but Lemura made things different in more ways than just getting Jay into the hive mind. Though Lemura learned far quicker than any human child, she still had to be raised. Understanding language didn't make her understand the importance of humanity, of rules, of why they couldn't just go up and kill Jonah — the latter some resident impulse her mother must have. Especially that had to be suppressed. As it stood, Lemura barely grasped that attacking Jay the way she'd done was wrong.

Figuring card names and rules gave her mind things to do other than listening to xenomorph drive too. Card play fascinated Lemura not because of winning things, but the method of it. Playing against someone whom you are mentally linked to to was double tricky, cause of keeping secrets.

Double bonus, it got Jay up to date with his new status as telepathic. He still struggled against comic book ideas of how thoughts and telepathy worked, though he was unusually apt at picking up extra things. Surface thoughts like what was in anyone's hands he missed more easily than Lemura, but he picked up broad strokes even Sarah didn't get, like feelings and desire. Lemura wanting to jump on the table and bounce wasn't the kind of thing Sarah picked up from the far away Kirindi and Ti'chai-di. Some time, once they were free, she'd have to figure out why it was different per brain.

Probably too much, considering by now Jay slumped in his chair and the cards lay in his hands unsteady.

"Are you alright?" Bison asked.

"It's hard. I think I'm at my limit of information processing," Jay said. "Can you get me something sugary to drink?"

Bison was half up already by the time Jay was done talking and needed no hints to guess what Jay would want, while Sarah could't tell with her telepathy. Yet.

Jay's exhaustion from this struck Sarah as odd, till she remembered some distant article on how too much thought is exhausting to explain why some workers got tired just from talking a lot. It seemed Noasyvé had upgraded her brain to be able to handle more. Jay might catch up after he'd had an upgrade.

What was he even getting overloaded by?

Maybe Lemura? Sarah now noticed the child's small fingers clutch into the cards, when she was so careful before.

"Sarah, is something wrong?" Jay stuttered.

"Maybe ... Jay, how do you feel?"

"Angry ... irritated ..." Jay muttered.

"You are?" Bison asked. "Why?"

No, someone else was. Sarah didn't catch it as strongly, but it was there : a prevailing sense of wrong, out of order, stop doing that.

_Leave my job to me._

Eliath?

Sarah focused all her own awareness on Karga'te, on Eliath, trying to get them to move, stop moving, anything — Syvé, what went wrong, what could she do? Do something!

Lemura twitched in her seat.

Jay's eyes turned wide. "Wait."

Lemura turned her head to Bison, bared her fangs and jumped.

Just barely, Sarah hooked her arm around Lemura. While Jay got before Bison, she tripped over a fallen chair as she scrambled against the wall.

Not bother to right herself, she pulled Lemura close, refusing to cave to the trashing or her own sudden heartbeats.

Jay kept an eye on Lemura all along, while trying to see whether Bison was okay. Bison himself repeatedly said as much, shaken but not very surprised.

"That thing should be locked up!" Jay spat.

"Calm down, it wasn't her!"

"Then what was it?" Jay shrieked. "It felt like it'd kill!"

"~ One of the drones in our hive, Eliath. He ...has trouble with developing individuality. He got triggered by something, Lemura copied it. Right now, Bison seems most threatening cause he's blanked out, ~" Sarah said. "~ Lemura is young and has sensitive instincts, she lived his aggression as if it were her own. ~"

And maybe Jay did too. He paced to the other end of the room, always between her and Bison. More tense than she'd ever seen him. "Is this gonna happen to us?"

"No," Sarah said. "We are adults and we don't have prominent mental instabilities due to mixed nature and warped conception."

"Sure we don't. We just live in Madness Central ... how the hell does this even work? It takes radio waves years to cross regular space! Even if we use hyperdrive or warp space, it takes time! How does telepathy work?"

"I don't know. There's some sort of field unbound by regular space." Sarah wanted to gesture, but Lemura still struggled. It wasn't getting better.

"What's gonna happen if  _that queen_  wakes up and starts using it all the way? There's something here, you know. It's always here. The pressure. What are we gonna be under her?"

Sarah froze up. That was a very good question.

Right then, Lemura shot out of her grasp. Jay stepped in the way, but Bison grabbed a chair, pushed past him and smacked Lemura out of mid air, throwing her near the door.

Lemura got up and hissed, but didn't attack again. She turned tail and ran from the room.

Jay quickly closed the door behind her with shaking hands. "Sarah, please, what's going to happen?"

"I don't know. It ... it can't be worse than what humans or Utara are doing. Let's worry about it later."

"What if it's too late?"

"Okay, Jay, that's enough. Fretting is not going to help us." Sarah took his arm and coaxed him to sit down. "I'm going to find Lemura now. I'll close the door if that makes you feel safer."

He nodded without looking up from the floor. Sarah patted his shoulder, gave a hopefully assuring look to Bison, and left.

Once the door clicked shut, a sense of loneliness settled. People weren't gone, they were never alone, but something about physical presence was different. You can see more, could prove more.

That's why she wanted to find Lemura before they talked. For her sake and Sarah's own, because the thing that was wrongly called humanity might be slipping. Unlike the biomechanoids, humans needed touch to connect with each other too.

Absently, Sarah noticed she her own was a little off. Urgency gone, she had no after effects. Panic wasn't useful now, true, but she wondered where the feeling had gone.

Rather, her mind filled with information from Kirindi and Ti'chai-di, prioritizing that over anything.

Karga'te wanted to know what had happened. She ... she couldn't tell whether what she replied was her own theory or inspired by Noasyvé's distant mind. Odygos and Eliath weren't quite right in the head, so different, so in need of guidance. He should be giving that, just like Sarah did to Lemura.

Noasyvé didn't trust her own children to help her escape right, nor to not reveal anything unwanted. She rather stayed and hope for outside help than risk letting her children gestate. Someone had to control them there. The Auton wouldn't like hearing this, so Karga'te had to get this under control for more than just Noasyvé's escape.

She had to get control too.

**· · · · · · ·**

Once a bathroom, more of a pool, now it was a hospital for Odygos. This involves some spit to thicken the water, dumping Odygos in it, and not checking the resin from overgrowing everything. The last one was Kirindi's person of flowers by the bed — the only non Eliath related opinion she'd expressed since it happened.

Karga'te thought it redundant since he'd be fine soon, but Ti'chai-di thought he'd need longer. Karga'te lacked an exoskeleton to reconfigure and could just scar tissue over everything and still function.

Really now? Great, then Odygos wouldn't be all over this floor with whatever existential dread he'd get once Sarah slash purpose deprivation kicked in again. That was bound to happen now that Sarah apparently had an incident of her own.

Kirindi insisted that was resonance from Eliath's aggression, since Lemura had aggressive instincts of her own to cope with. All the more reason to see what could be done about Eliath now.

Any time now.

He was still in the living room, trying to untangle the incompetent mess he got from that new guy in the hive mind, Sarah's dry bursts of information and constant reminders to handle Eliath, and his own thoughts on Kirindi.

All her instant perfect forgiveness made even less sense now. What Karga'te did out of the hivemind didn't seem to affect her opinion, but what Eliath did while  _within_  the same hivemind as Odygos unsettled her to the core. She was distracted, she constantly asked what Eliath was going to do, she didn't create anything, even her dreams were in chaos. She could not bear to continue holding it against Eliath because that violated the hive unity she wished for, yet it felt like a violation  _to her_  that he'd done something to disturb this unity and harm a member. It scared her on a level she didn't know and that Karga'te had no word for. It wasn't honor, integrity, or even outright personal.

Sarah kept going on about control, but what did that even help? Eliath and Odygos were brothers, they should be better at that. You didn't seek to control family.

Then again, Eliath and Odygos were in no place to be called family from him.

Sarah wasn't helpful here, so he shut her out. Her point of view wasn't very helpful anyway, she was too human.

Hmm ... what  _was_  Eliath's point of view? Kirindi had explained her side, but Karga'te didn't actually know from himself.

"~ Kirindi, can you get Eliath to tell me directly why he thinks he did that? ~"

She couldn't, but she swore that the answer was that he didn't know how to deal with Odygos right then and there.

"~ You don't know how to deal with Eliath either and you're not hurting him now, are you? ~"

That  _should_  have gone on to  _but you hurt me when you thought you had a good reason_. She didn't even call it to mind, or maybe she was good at hiding this. Just how much of her thinking did she regulate around not getting him worked up over something? He didn't know how to deal with that either.

The door clicked up and then close again as Jake and Shadhahvar returned. Jake was already up to date, yet still felt the need to ask, "Man, ｈow could Eliath just do that? Aren't they part of the same hive thing?"

Karga'te rolled his eyes.

"No, those are supposed to all thing alike. Its not like with the hardmeat, and it's not like with—" Jake was thinking about dogs in a pack, who fight but not try to destroy each other so randomly. "... what, were you expecting, dogs?" Karga'te said.

Jake shrugged. "Badly raised dogs rebel."

Eliath let it be known that almost made it worth figuring out laughter.  _He_  was the rebellious one? Karga'te had nearly killed Kirindi, who had kept Eliath and Odygos a secret because Karga'te could not be trusted to answer to their Mother. He'd have killed her for being right about him.

"~ Stop reminding me. ~" Karga'te snarled. Fine.

He called the sisters over, they were heading out.

Once at the bottom of the pillar, Karga'te climbed on Ti'chai-di's back, which he had to share with a persistent Shadhahvar who for some reason carried popcorn. Kirindi went on Eliath's back so he looked less scary to onlookers. It didn't seemed effective. Hell, once they reached the public roads, the number of people moving aside in sheer horror rather stood out. More than than usual.

According to Kirindi, news that Eliath had attacked one of his own had spread like wildfire, and squashed xenomorph was a meme already.

Once they reached the public roads, the number of people moving aside in sheer horror rather stood out. More than than usual.

Karga'te bonked into Hrugheeit's mental space to get it to warn people they were passing to the outer pillar.

Hrugheeit said, "~ Oh, I'm sure people are used to our new guards by now. ~"

"~ Which is why they're so peacefully running away. Yep, just look at that. Only three out of four are seriously considering to shoot at us if we get too close. ~"

"~ They're just a bit fidgety after hearing about the elevator incident. ~"

Karga'te groaned and gave up. Hrugheeit knew bloody well what the situation was and just was cursed with an eternally optimistic personality. Seriously, that worm wasn't  _normal_.

"~ Ah yes, my kind often marvels at that blessing of living like an eternal grouch, but us poor souls will never experience it. It's really lonely, being one of the few species for whom cynicism is actually detrimental. ~"

"~ If you're not useful, then shut up. ~"

"~ I'll be happy to accept this conceding of defeat! ~"

"~ Whatever. ~"

"~ What are you doing anyway? ~"

Kirindi took the word, "~ Father wants to try whether Eliath can be a dog. ~"

"~ Duly noted in the public registers. ~"

Karga'te groaned and asked Kirindi to not talk to it any further, and keep Shadhahvar from the same or she'd be kicked off.

Between the outer most pillar and the rainforest was a barren area divided between picnic spots, junk stashes and emergency landings. They went into the junk section.

Once below a wrecked ship and between stacked crates, where no fliers could see or record them, Karga'te took position on one end. Kirindi and Eliath were opposite of him a hundred meter away or so.

Eliath sat down next to Kirindi, and stayed there when Karga'te called Kirindi to him. Ti'chai-di stayed near her, while Shadhahvar started eating her popcorn on a giant pipe.

Karga'te crossed his arms, looked over at the thing eager to kill him and was held back by the sheer absurdity of the situation. He was going to try training a xenomorph?

As a yautja, he was raised to believe in physical power above all. That thoughts alone could hold powers was far beyond that, in the realm of fantasy or the tools of lesser civilizations. Well, damn all that. He'd not cared that he had no idea when he started training ziou'ra. He would do this.

Eliath was stupid anyway, it shouldn't be hard.

Kirindi pulled at one of his dreads. "It's just that Eliath isn't curious, so he misses a lot."

Exactly. Stupid.

"No, he can be creative, he just doesn't get everywhere. I think it's like a maze in the mind. Odygos enters mazes all the time so he spent more time learning, Eliath only enters mind mazes when he needs something. So Odygos knows stuff better."

Huh. Kinda like how yautja doctrine kept people from thinking too hard about what their hunting achieved.

He buried his face in a hand. Like himself.

"Kirindi, can you get him to go from underneath this ship, onto that stack of crates?"

"Uh ..." She asked Eliath in her quiet way.

Eliath didn't budge.

"He ... he really doesn't want to. He knows it's an order from you. I'm not even sure he'd listen if it wasn't, but I don't ask him pointless stuff."

That figured.

Eliath was capable of functioning as part of the city's raid team. He'd take orders if they came in context of survival here, but it wasn't obedience, let alone loyalty. There had to be something to it.

"~ Kirindi, try to get him to do it once more. Ti'chai-di, you need to lend her your range and push ~," he said.

So she did, this time with the hum undertone of Ti'chai-di.

Unlike before, Eliath didn't sit still while denial. He stood up, sat back down again and ... started wagging his tail.

Okay, he was mocking now.

Odygos from his miserable pool piped into say Eliath wanted dogs explained, so he did.

"~ Don't you have a damn problem with what he did to you? ~"

Odygos informed him it hurt like hell, but Eliath was just stupid and had to be lived with.

Yeah, right. The thing that despised frivolities was bothering with mockery now, Karga'te didn't buy it.

Odygos thought Eliath wasn't going to do something useless, and Karga'te was always useless.

That was somewhat more helpful, actually.

There had to be some trick to making a command seem urgent or important. Once Eliath got simple things, they could work on more complex stuff like 'don't squash your brother' and 'stop right there' and 'memes are annoying don't give them fuel'.

Hmm. Karga'te closed his eyes and tried to imagine. Within dreams, the world seemed so real that he could navigate it without questioning it, so he fabricated a reason for Eliath to to the trivial command of going up on those crates. Something dangerous was there, that he had to check out. If that was connected to a command enforced by Ti'chai-di, it might sound more like what a queen did.

It was easy enough to convince Eliath of a threat. First incite hyper focus on alarm, then imagine a suitably feathery relative here to scout out the area and having picked up Kirindi's scent.

Eliath took a few steps, hesitated, then some more.

Shadhahvar stopped eating popcorn. "You this is pretend to be a dog 202?"

"No," Karga'te snarled. "This is being creative."

Eliath stood at the bottom of the crates, one leg in the air ... and then he spun around.

Shit, he  _had_  figured it out.

And he had registered Karga'te as a renewed threat for creating an obstacle. It meant he could conceal further intent to harm Kirindi.

The way Eliath let him know that this was why, this was the reason he might defy what his own mother commanded, made their battle over Kirindi's fate seem trivial. They hadn't been linked then. Between a praetorian and devastation of purpose stood their queen, and for Eliath that was Kirindi.

That took enough of his senses that he registered too late that Eliath came hurling at him. He barely crossed his arms to brace against the impact and leaned in, but was off balance and fell to the side. On relfex he grabbed Eliath and threw him over his back. Both went to the ground.

It hadn't been a real attack so much as a warning, but Karga'te still ended up with his back scratched open and a lock torn off.

Ti'chai-di moved on Kirindi's bid to pin Eliath with her arm, forcing him to stay with sheer weight. She might not have the authority of a queen, the sickening crunches still cemented her as stronger. Stay. Where Kirindi could give specific commands, Ti'chai-di's mind was not developed enough for complex plots, but she had far more capacity. All this power she now focused on Eliath.

Kirindi was torn between her sister's overwhelming want and the need to stop Eliath from being in pain. She called in Karga'te, asking him what to do.

Bah, what a mess. Ti'chai-di functioned on a detached instinct to destroy the loose canon, it wasn't even particular hatred. Karga'te snuffed it out, less with the reason they needed him and more the sheer force of dominance ... no,  _precision_. Ti'chai-di had no defined will like Eliath, she could bend like a reed.

Ti'chai-di was family, though. Where did beast end and family begin when their minds were so different? What kind of orders were even normal for family?

Ti'chai-di stepped back, but kept a paw on Eliath. Kirindi's discontent ebbed away, back to her usual neutrality. Only Eliath still had his displeasure. All of them had one clear feeling now, save for Karga'te himself.

On one end, have craved this kind of power in a way he couldn't place, and on the other end it struck him with full force just how much control he had over the sisters. He'd always thought Kirindi was just an obedient child — not a servant animal. He'd never known her to be otherwise.

Before the hivemind he hadn't been in this kind of control over anyone ... the constant pressure of Nra'tex-ne versus Oihana at her worst had never even seemed in the same category, but from this angle they looked like the same thing for a moment.

Kirindi did have desire and will of her own, to an extent. Right now, she perched before Eliath and quietly reasoned him out of a fight, using her own gentle persuasion. That in itself worked on an instinct that someone — Syvé — had decided would be there.

"This is getting boring," Shadhahvar drawled. "Hey, Eliath, isn't it bad for protecting Kirindi if you hurt Odygos? There's gonna be an enemy invasion, right? What if they do tomorrow and Odygos can't help cause he's broken?"

Eliath had to admit she was right and connected those dots with needing Karga'te. For now. Ti'chai-di let go.

"The point was that he'd get a hang of respect," Karga'te grumbled. "And follow orders."

"Ooooh, full offense : you're godawful at that yourself," Shadhahvar said.

Eliath stood up on broken legs and turned back to where he had come from. Kirindi braced against him as he walked away, till they were at the gate of the junk yard.

"See? All better now!" Shadhahvar said. "Buy me more popcorn."

Karga'te groaned. "I'll do that once I can make hardmeat dance."

He didn't owe her, but he probably owed Kirindi once more.

**· · · · · · ·**

Lemura didn't let herself be found as easily as Sarah was to. It wasn't just that she'd lost her way in this area and that Utara wasn't active to ask for a map, but rather a haze that lay between them and over everything.

Lemura had calmed down and Eliath's influence was lesser now. She wanted to say sorry to Bison, regretted it far more than Eliath did, knew it was wrong to have done  _now_  ... and only now. Sarah almost promised she'd grow out of it, but would she, really?

The ordinary xenomorph drone could mature within a single day. Lemura took far longer to grow and she might still growing, and so might her brain. Still time for new connections to be made, and maybe she could even prune away needless ones.

Maybe she could talk to everyone.

What?

Lemura had to be near, she began getting directions now.

"~ The pressure's here, ~" Lemura said. Had that been only auditory words, Sarah would've missed the true meaning. Pressure was defined as an entity in Lemura's mind. Just like she considered Noasyvé a kind of presence she'd never met, except that was more light and sun than this cold.

It wasn't just the atmosphere?

Sarah rounded one more corner into a dark passage and frozen.

There crouched someone, closer than she expected, yet somehow she was so accustomed to the presence she needed a moment to realize it was there as a person. Not background radiation, not an undercurrent of the hives, not anything but its own individual being. All around.

Lemura sat before it, doing nothing, saying nothing. She just stare back in its eyes, while its malformed hand hovered hear a head.

"What ..."

The thing itself didn't move, but tendrils or wires coming from its back and head grew tense and jerked it down a hall behind it.

Sarah pushed herself to close the distance and lift Lemura. Holding her close, she hesitated for a long moment whether to run, or to see what was down that hall.

One step back that she didn't take, two ahead. Lemura wasn't afraid, didn't even understand what Sarah thought was unusual. It'd felt so normal, right?

Right.

Sarah peered down the dark hall. She took a deep breath, habit more than need, and entered.

She passed three long halls without any signs something had moved, let alone something that could jerk around a human size body like that.

No direct signs at least. It was rather odd though that the doors were unlocked and open though. Only one door each hall, two at the end and the last one leading to blackness.

Down that one was was nothing but an empty elevator shaft. Pitch black at the bottom, so deep the echo of her steps hazed out.

"Hello?" It wasn't her own voice, but Lemura acting on the childish impulse Sarah herself knew to surpress.

"Any monsters down there?" A little louder now and the echo carried deeper.

Someone else whispered, "Yes, just like up with you."

It was much closer to them than the depth from where their own echo came from.

The slightest hint of a shape cradling itself in a corner, its wires drooped and stretched in the dark like a web.

They could come down. Talk to it. Tell everything about what the anger had been. So strong, everyone noticed. Down below. The beasts of the stars up in the dens, under the knives and ice.

Everyone wanted to know who was here, yet wasn't.

It'd catch them, if they wanted to. They wouldn't die.

Lemura believed it, but Sarah was enough of a human to find such a call unnatural.

Whatever it was, it had a stake in luring them. It might not want a struggle. She backed away now, one step at a time.

"No, Sarah," Lemura whispered in her ear. The coarse inhumanity of her voice stood out far more than it should.

Another step.

At some point, she would have to turned around. There were doors to open eventually.

Nothing happened. No sounds of crawling up the shaft, no lurching figures came screeching after them.

Lemura put her arms around Sarah's neck. Sarah looked down for a moment, then back up.

Still nothing had changed.

She kept her eyes on the black hole as she slowly turned around, then only ahead.

Another step. She counted fifteen long strides until she reached the other end of the hall.

When she was at there she looked back over her shoulder. Just over the edge, a motionless face stared back. It was too dark in there to see whether it had no eyes or simply deep sockets.

Lemura pushed a hand over her shoulder and pointed in its direction, not caught by the fibers of fear that finally crawled up Sarah's mind. Late, but not too late. She clung to the fear to ground herself, it sank to her legs and got them moving at last.

She ran all the way to the living quarters. Jay and Bison were in the kitchen, but she didn't beeline. The door needed to be closed, even if she understood it could get in, could have always gotten in. A chair planted against it was hardly a counter measure, but it felt a little better.

The kitchen steamed with pleasant scents. It felt a little safer, but now she knew the psychic pressure was alive it felt deceptive.

Jay was less fidgety now, fully absorbed in his cooking. Jay sat at the table reading though and noticed Sarah. He almost asked her what was wrong, but she shook her head.

"That took you long," Jay said. His voice was strained. "Did you close the door behind you?"

Sarah nodded before remembering to speak. "~Yes.~"

"Good. Dinner will be done soon." Jay never sounded like that when he cooked.

He'd noticed it too.

Sarah sat at the table, braving the bewildered look of Bison.

Now her heart didn't race, she didn't sweat, her body was perfectly in control, but her mind screamed for an answer. Nobody could answer.

She held a little closer to Lemura, who laid her head against her shoulder. It brought no comfort because Lemura said, "I'd have liked to see more. It knew about monsters."

"It's not our kind of monster, okay?" Sarah said. "Remember that."

**· · · · · · ·**


	25. Past Visiting

**· · · · · · ·**

_May 27, 2578_

_Location : Kiyasumeni_

**· · · · · · ·**

Karga'te didn't sleep well lately. The other side of the hivemind kept forcing its way into his dreams. Narrow, cold halls full of hate except for a cloying cluster around Sarah. When one night, Hguthreeit drummed him awake over a potential emergency, he didn't even complain.

Well, he didn't complain about the waking up part. The worm had an infernal ability to whine telepathically, so he actually had to get out of bed and do a thing.

Kirindi was already awake and dressed by the time he got out of his room, smiling as she held out his netgun and a few others weapons to pick from, just in case. He grumbled and picked something random. Before leaving, he double checked whether the gate on Eliath's room was closed well enough. Eliath himself hibernated, and Kirindi didn't wake him to ask whether he'd come along.

Hguthreeit got them updated on their way down.

A particular group of visitors had arrived who could be trouble, the Aing Tii. They were staunch opponents of slavery. In theory slave trade was not permitted here, but more covert forms happened anyway. The Aing Tii tended to crack down without any regard for the rules, which could result in anything from destroyed wares to outright execution. They had no qualms about neurological interfacing, aka brainwashing by means of implanting. This also meant they could have agents who acted on things without knowing way, so there was no mind reading to be done to find out. All in all, reason to be edgy around them.

Karga'te didn't care for the laws about how to handle slavers, but he didn't like the brainwashing part at all. He'd bother to be serious about this, so he asked for more information.

Aing Tii always appeared without warning. They docked their ships as soon as a place had been reserved, literary. Their travel technology was of a standard beyond this galaxy. Right now, they'd docked without even unloading any cargo and had requested an audience with the supervisor. A translator was awaited, since Hguthreeit wasn't keen on starting telepathy with them.

Karga'te docked on the same pillar they were at the bottom off. He and Kirindi took a seat on a ridge, where he zoomed his helmet up close while Kirindi telepathically probed the area.

The ship was a clunky bean shaped thing with a segmented shell and random protrusions, looking more like an insect pod than a machine. Shallow nozzles broke the pattern in random places, while countless tiny windows neatly lined on the segments. The only thing indicating it even had a front were the larger windows on one end.

The creatures mulling around it were so similar, he would bet they were biomechanic. Bipedal creatures, white like their ship, segmented but more streamlined. Rounded heads with eyes and no mouth ended in a long, pointed tail. They didn't speak by sound, but scents, as far as Kirindi could tell. They had some spirit speech though, so they weren't entire unintelligible. Kirindi liked them at once and wanted to invite them to the hivemind. Whenever did she not?

Well, there was one exception.

Kirindi drew his attention to a small figure sitting on the ramp. He switched on his mask's close up function to zoom in on ... a human.

 _A human he knew_.

Darker in color than Anudjan, but younger and of a different gender, she was both familiar and strange to Karga'te. Her clothing style had changed from understated to ornate and complex, her dreads were heaped on the back of her head in a wild array and she had green colors painted on her skin. Strangest of all, she laughed at the worm that had come to negotiate. Out loud. Karga'te had never seen Ayo like this, yet it was her.

According to Kirindi she was the Aing Tii's technological translator; she handled the sign ins and had just struck up a conversation with Hguthreeit. Ayo was telepathic now? That did come with the ash generation, but Oihana had said she was rather hard to read. On top of that, they'd appeared limited to their own kind.

"~ You know her? ~" Hguthreeit asked.

"~ No, I just like the fashion she's got, ~" Karga'te said.

"~ I do too! ~" Shadhahvar cheered somewhere far away. "~ Let's invite her! ~"

She was ignored.

Karga'te crossed down the pillar, spooked a few sightseers and landed on top of the Aing Tii ship. There he leaned over the edge of the entrance.

"Ayo, what in the pit are you doing here?" he said in human language.

"The same as always, surviving and helping others survive. How have you been doing, Karga'te?" she said in yautja language without missing a beat. She didn't even look up.

He sat down, dangling his legs over the edge. "The badblood clan wasn't my thing, then I got in some freaky hardmeat hive and walked out with a monster daughter. Then she brought in her big little sister and two drones. Now I have a job kicking people's asses over asinine market rules. What's your story?"

Ayo gave a hearty laugh, once again making him doubt it was really her. She'd been so stoic.

"Really now? Can I meet your daughters?" she asked, looking up for the first time. "I'll tell you my story then."

"Depends. How's your inner monster doing?"

"I'm just fine, don't worry. I have to wrap up some things here, though."

She got up and disappeared inside, while Karga'te still processed what had just happened.

Ayo was here.

He had expected her to be killed, escape or still struggle along with the clan till she had a chance to escape. None of that had involved ever running into her again. What was he going to say? What would they even talk about? How did she even end up here?

Kirindi hopped down on the roof, entranced with the living tissue. She wanted to grow such things too, so she began prying off a bit to take along. Maybe Odygos could learn from it.

Ayo reappeared from a hatch to the right of Karga'te. "Done. Let's go up and ... please don't do that."

She gave a nod at Kirindi, who had started spitting acid on the ship, but now froze and stared at Ayo.

"Don't eat that, you don't know what it's been!" Karga'te said.

"Also it doesn't belong to you," Ayo said. "Even if you could defeat the owners in combat."

Karga'te bristled. "I'm  _not_ raising her with yautja rules."

Kirindi pushed the half detached piece back in place without breaking eye contact with Ayo. She didn't say sorry, like she'd usually do.

"I've got a hovercraft up there, if you really wanna meet Ti'chai-di. Or you can just meet Kirindi here and be done with it. Ti'chai-di doesn't do much other than droop around and be sad she can't have kids. Also, I got a human guy in the house."

Ayo could climb in ways ordinary humans could not, so he didn't wait for her or bother to drive the craft down. He went up, Kirindi next to him and Ayo at a calculated distance.

Kirindi hadn't asked a single time to add her to the hivemind, despite her being familiar.

When asked why, she indicated Ayo didn't appear like a real person. Like the androids were to him. Kirindi saw the Auton as persons who unfortunately couldn't be added to the hivemind because they were on a different frequency, but she claimed they could transform to make it possible. One of those existed somewhere in the galaxy, Eloise. They had shared dreams once.

So, if she could make that comparison, didn't that mean she understood Ayo was a person? What was the hold up? This was flat out the first human Karga'te didn't mind being in the hivemind.

When she noticed his confusion, she said, "~ That one's wrong. ~"

"~ Why? ~"

"~ It just is. ~"

"~ She is much more real than your androids. She even had some of her own telepathy. ~"

Kirindi didn't like that last part either. If anything, the idea that she might have her own shared mind with other people made her alert for enemies.

They reached the hovercraft with no incident, which put Ayo on the same dock as Kirindi.

Oblivious to the difference in behavior, Ayo smiled at her and leaned down to look her in the eyes.

"Hey, kid. How are you dealing with this prick?"

She just tilted her head.

Ayo held out a hand, but Kirindi shot away. Climbing onto Karga'te's shoulders, she looked away.

At least, Ayo's ease in not being offended remained. "Heh. Who would have thought it would turn out like this."

"Noasyvé, apparently," Karga'te grumbled.

"Yes, but it's  _you_! You've been such an asshole, and after—"

"Cut that out," he growled.

Almost Kirindi asked Ayo what had happened, but she kept back because she noticed he didn't want that story out. It was the first sign Karga'te saw that maybe, she hadn't really forgotten that he'd nearly killed her. About time, but not a good time. Ayo had just confirmed she knew Noasyvé, after all.

"It's not a coincidence you're here, is it?"

Ayo stood straight. "No. I and my allies are here to help Noasyvé escape from Enigma II."

Change of plans. He wasn't going to introduce her to his home, they were heading straight for the worm's place.

He told Hguthreeit the rough detail that Ayo was an old acquaintance, she looked human but was something else and she had a goal for Noasyvé.

Hguthreeit thought this was a bizarre development, sure. The secluded Aing Tii taking in a human? Siding with xenomorph now? One for the record of freaky developments of the kainde amedha, which he had started the moment he met Kirindi, so really, he could roll with it. Did she like tea or coffee or wine? He had reserves on his ship for whenever he dropped by a human settlement.

So he ended up in a fancy room by worm standards that smelled atrocious. Really, how could anyone drink that stuff? Ayo was normally averse to anything that would be bad for her, ash instincts and all that, yet down it went.

"Ah, thank you," Ayo said after the first sip. She leaned into the pouffe, calm and content and once again making him doubt she was Ayo.

"~ You're welcome, ~" Hguthreeit said. "~ So, care to tell us your story? Feel free to speak human, if sending is difficult for you. ~"

"It is when speaking to your kind." Ayo cast a look at Kirindi, who stared unblinking at her. "And her kind, apparently."

Ayo still had her succinct nature, at least in how she explained her presence with the Aing Tii and her goal.

The Aing Tii had come to this galaxy for spiritual reasons. Their strict standards led to their involvement in countering the Loki organization's trade with the Mala'kak, and from there on their pilgrimage turned into a rather intense charity mission. Jormungandr had come onto their radar, which led them to the Nirevé. Jormungandr had been gone by then, but Ayo hadn't. She had joined them, and met a number of their allies, Noasyvé included. They had a shared goal in preventing humankind or anything of their making from getting their hands on Mala'kak technology.

All this she told in stoic detail, except when she emphasized she did not want her selling out the pack she'd been with at the time to be called betrayal. It was escape.

Hguthreeit had a lot of questions on why the Aing Tii hadn't just come up to any of the advanced civilizations to explain their findings, which Ayo repeatedly shoved off by saying their were just recluses. Karga'te was less interested in her friends than in her presence.

It was really absurd, the longer he had time to let it sink in. One day on another, Ayo just wandered back into his life. He had every reason to believe he would never see anyone of that time in his life again.

He always had distant ideas about finding his brother, but Ayo wouldn't have been anywhere near him. He never would return to Nirevé. Not then, and especially not now.

As Ayo and Hguthreeit spoke of an invasion, of freeing Noasyvé, and then escape, it started turning more and more real he'd lose his life on Kiyasumeni.

Hguthreeit had objections to Noasyvé coming here right during an invasion, after a supposed attack on Enigma II, for similar reasons. The last he wanted was the United Alliances on his back over harboring enemies of humankind.

"You think it'll get that far?" Ayo asked. "Tell me then, what do you think will happen when Enigma comes?"

"~ They'll send airborne drones that either transmit something I don't want them to see, or we destroy the drones, or we risk trying to reprogram them. They will not send the same low tech as those cyborg, and they are not likely to send one type. Once they have reason to, we can expect an invasion force. This is a problem, but it will be bigger if Enigma has reason to believe I'm involved directly with the attacks on it. ~"

Ayo shook her head. "There will be an invasion force right away."

"How would you know that?" Karga'te asked, having an inkling of the answer.

"There are others like me." Ayo stood up, kept her eyes on the ground and closed nearby window. "They will gradually unravel the secrets Utara and Nuitar keep on Enigma II. Even now I have to be careful not to let anything slip. Especially visuals are easy to pick up on."

Karga'te growled. "Then how do we know you're not being mind read right now?"

Ayo gave a weird little smile at that. "I have a shield."

In a rare moment of concord, Hguthreeit and Karga'te agreed that was infuriating vagueness. Kirindi didn't, she thought something else was too vague.

"Why would  _you and your friends_  want to help Noasyvé?" Kirindi asked. "I agree she must be helped, of course, but they oppose the Mala'kak. Why not their kin too?"

"It's not that kind of standards the Aing Tii strive for," Ayo said. "That want what's best for life—"

"Then they should join the hivemind."

"They have their own unity," Ayo said, with a bit of bite to her tone. "As have my team, and those of the planet I joined. We will be allies, the Aing Tii will be allies, as long as  _independent_  life is served."

Time to leave before this got any more tense. Karga'te stood up and climbed out the farthest window from Ayo, followed closely by Kirindi.

All the way home, she tried to convince him Ayo was dangerous, less for what she'd said and more for the thing under her skin.

Hguthreeit only had one thing to say, "~ So your old friend happens to know Noasyvé. Someone is playing with you. ~"

Hardly news, but he was gonna deal with that as it came. Right now he had a market city to evacuate, because if anything like Ayo's kind came here, there would be a lot of death.

**· · · · · · ·**

_May 28, 2578_

**· · · · · · ·**

Of all the new information that got onto the metaphorical table, Odygos thought that Karga'te having acquaintances who didn't hate his guts was the weirdest. Really, Jake was only tolerant of Karga'te because he was in the hivemind. He was curious about Ayo now, but she didn't want to come by because of some inconvenient breeding instinct. Jake was a fertile adult male human, so.

The answer was obvious : Odygos just kicked Jake out. Packed his bags with junk food and send him for a fun night over with the Auton and other Philidon humans. That done, Ayo agreed to come over, which Odygos looked forward to right up until she stepped through the front door and he got a field full of distorted radiance and hostile pheromones.

This was bad. Really bad. As in  _inherent instinct to destroy_  bad.

Well, he  _was_  going to deal with this, whether his instincts liked it or not. Just to be sure though, he had Kirindi convince her sister to lean down on him. Ti'chai-di had no opinion of her own on Ayo's averse nature. This resulted in Ti'chai-di awkwardly fitting herself in the living room and Odygos tucked between her neck and arms. Kirindi happily decided her sister had finally figured out dolls, before making herself scarce. When Karga'te tuned into the hiveminded and decided this was an embarrassing display, Odygos decided to never developed that thing called pride. It seemed so inconvenient.

Someone probably should have decided to tell Karga'te they were inviting Ayo cause he did a lot of swearing when he tried to exit his room and there was Ti'chai-di in the way.

By the time Karga'te had wormed out, Ayo had taken a seat. On the surface she appeared just like an ordinary human, Odygos might have been fooled if he hadn't been hardwired for picking up her  _wrong_  nature. It was probably a good thing Eliath was still on room arrest when off the job.

"What are you doing here?"

"Your kainde amedha invited me, and I wanted to ask you something anyway."

Karga'te grabbed the nearest hard object and threw it at Odygos's head. "Bad dog, Odygos."

Stuck as he was under Ti'chai-di's arm, he couldn't dodge. Thank goodness for the exoskeleton.

"Odygos?" Ayo asked.

He would've said yes, but couldn't mind link, so he tried sticking up a thumb. It didn't really work, his thumb was too forward, but Ayo noticed.

"Oh Ashla, I'm a weird thing myself but are they picking up human slang?"

"Just Odygos, mostly. He's weird existential one of our two dickheads," Karga'te said. "The other is Eliath, who won't accept life is more complicated than being a dickhead. Don't provoke that one. Anyway, if you're here anyway, you can tell me more about you and Syvé."

"I'm  _not_  going to get into more detail about my deal with Noasyvé, in case the wrong people end up mind reading you," she said. "Believe, I want to talk about everything, but I have to play it safe. I came for something else."

"Then why don't we do like always and shut up?"

"Not that kind of playing it safe. We're not in Nirevé anymore. Maybe we can talk as free people."

Karga'te crossed his legs and remained on his feet, which Odygos didn't get. She wasn't an enemy, why the defiance?

"What would talking as free people even mean?"

Ayo frowned just a little. "That I can ask you for the real reason why you did certain things. You can ask about me too. Let's start simple : why did you pursue those eggs?"

He tensed up. There had to be more to it, but Odygos couldn't pick up anything despite the hivemind.

"I'm ... not sure." He started in a low voice, only for it to get more irritated. "Maybe I wanted revenge and set the result loose, maybe I wanted to see whether I was immune enough ... now I'm in the hivemind of the death goddess or something.  _You_  doing anything better with life?"

Ayo gave him a look and waited a few seconds before she said, "I work for a sapient planet."

Shadhahvar peeked into the room behind her. "And I'm the empress of the galaxy!"

"Cheers to you," Ayo said as she stood up to push Ayo from the room. "Seriously though, Karga'te, do you understand what a hivemind means?"

"Shared mind of the hardmeat hive. What else?"

"It can mean two things. One, what you said : the shared mind of the group created by the telepathic link centered on Ti'chai-di, which you happen to call hive because that's what hardmeat usually are."

"Ti'chai-di? Kirindi's the core," Karga'te said.

"Ti'chai-di handles the processing, I can tell from the fields around her. Anyway, the second thing is the mind of a hive, multiple bodies acting as a single entity. Are you still yourself?"

He could only thrill in amusement. "Take me word that's not happening at all. She can do some to keep me focused, but my thoughts are my own."

"Your thoughts are the product of your subconscious, if that's changed you wouldn't be able to tell. Look, I'm just worried. When Mahad and I moved out on our own, we started to mentally synchronize and didn't even realize it until someone with expertise in it pointed it out. He's not here now because we split before we became nothing but instinct driven versions of ourselves. We amplified it for each other. Even now I can't draw a clear line. Knowing that, are you sure you weren't influenced to seek out those eggs?"

"You know perfectly well why I'd be interested. What I think is more important is why Noasyvé is interested in us both."

Ayo ran a hand through her thick hair. "That ... is less grand scheme than you might think. I told her about you and she has a warped sense of humor that leads her to pursue avenues of thought. She has a number of other avenues that she pulled in out of curiosity, all kinds of back drops, potentials and maybe's. Thousands of them across the worlds. I don't think she planned you specifically, but others might. Regardless, we both are here now because of Jormungandr is an enemy of Noasyvé."

"That all you wanted to say?" Karga'te asked.

Odygos was pretty sure that expression on Ayo meant disappointment forced down. She carried on on a more monotone voice. "No, I also wanted to see whether Kirindi can persuade the Auton to help us on the jailbreak. She once had their aid, did she not?"

"Yeah, but only cause they planned to put a bomb in the place. Some kind of message they wanna send to the UA thing," Karga'te muttered.

"Maybe she can convince them to lend us some Auton to subtract Noasyvé from Enigma II, and blow it up afterward," Ayo said. "The Aing Tii would themselves go aboard if not for the risk of contamination by Nuitar. The Auton are not at this risk."

"Contamination?"

"There's a variant of our kind aboard that's susceptible to infected other biomechanic entities. They won't take that risk."

"There won't have to if you don't free her. Why bother?"

Ayo glared. "If only that was an option ... look, Karga'te ... Noasyvé has a way to telepathically steer mutation agents, she can send dreams across lightyears without relying on a planet's basic energy fields. There is something on Enigma II strong enough to keep her weak, and  _it wants her power_. Noasyvé bears the living no malice, but that thing does. We need to free her, and it will be easier if we can get the Auton to cover for us."

Karga'te was dangerously close to suggesting the Auton blow up the ship with Noasyvé on it, but didn't say it out loud at least. Odygos wasn't going to forget he'd just openly let that thought float for the entire hive, but didn't take it as fiercely as Eliath — he was fuming in his room right now. It didn't have to mean Karga'te'd backstab them like Meke'tor had. Rather, he suspected Karga'te wanted to get a rise to find out more. At least, that's what Odygos saw sense in.

"I don't have proof of anything you say any more than Nra'tex-ne ever gave me proof of his gods," Karga'te said. "You should know better than to think I'll play this game. For all I know, this is all a trap, Mahad's in an incinerator somewhere and you've gone all the way into monster mind land."

"This ... this isn't what I wanted. We could be allies. We  _should_  be. I'm surrounded by things that treat the fate of the world like some detached rhythm, I'd hoped that now you're down a different path—"

Karga'te snarled, "I've seen what it gets like when things with super powers think about reshaping everything. You think we can just chat up about the past? Why don't we talk about the best way to roast a body while we're at it?"

"That is not—why are you bringing this up now?"

"Because you're trying to get my daughter wrapped up in danger!"

"Oh, now you've got a problem with this sort of thing? I'm glad you learned, Karga'te. Did you make some progress on how you view your brother too, or does that need a few more punches to the face?"

That was enough. Karga'te wrestled with wanting to throw her to the ground and leave; the latter won. Not wanting to worm his way back into his room, he stomped out the door.

Karga'te tried to take things as they came. Odygos concluded he sucked at that, given his lovely little outburst just now. He was gonna run all of this by Sarah once they got a clearer connection, and see whether he was on the right track reading people. Karga'te was like 101 material here.

Ayo just stood there, just breathing. "Oh Ashla, always with the running off."

Ti'chai-di stretched an arm out, nudging her in the arm.

Ayo startled and stood up. "Right, I'll be on my way then."

Odygos didn't really have anything to gain from it, but hey, it was more interesting than her just leaving. So he had Ti'chai-di tell her she hadn't meant for her to leave. She just knew the same feeling of not getting anywhere — that and she liked the goal of blowing up Enigma II so Ayo now registered as ally.

"Oh ... I'll be okay. So will you, Ti'chai-di." Then she looked at Odygos. "You're really a weird one, aren't you? Does that make a difference to how badly you want to kill me?"

He couldn't answer, didn't even know how to link to a mind like that, but Ti'chai-di translated for him; it surprised them both.

He told her Ayo he didn't want to kill her, he just had an instinct that warned him of danger.

Ayo broke a wide smile at that. "I wonder whether  _we_  can work together."

What did that mean? Ti'chai-di wanted to know too, but for her it was more about working together to expand the hive with her children.

"We can do a lot of things, I and my team. Ti'chai-di, I don't think you'll need our help once Noasyvé is free, but Odygos ... you should think about something you might like."

Why?

"Hmmm ... why not? Didn't you mother seek out a way to have generals who are loyal, but can function independently without her constant supervision? You could start wanting that."

Could be worth it. So what did she want?

"I want freedom and peace for all who deserve it," she said with a shrug, turning to the door now. "You know, selfish human things."

As Sarah was prone to do.

**· · · · · · ·**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayo is from the prequel to this story, Morphology. The Aing Tii are from Star Wars Legends.


End file.
